Scientists at a Japanese university have developed a way of using bacterial
DNA to store data almost indefinitely.
Researchers from the
Keio
University Institute for Advanced Biosciences and
Keio
University Shonan Fujisawa Campus in Tokyo have succeeded in creating an
artificial DNA containing the data to be preserved.
Each artificial DNA strand can hold up to 100 bits of data and is preserved
by making multiple copies of the DNA and inserting the original as well as the
identical copies into the bacterial genome sequence.
It is these copies that work as back-ups of the data to counteract natural
degradation.
The researchers managed to encode the phrase E=MC2 1905, Einstein's world
famous equation and the year he announced it, into the genome of a strain of
bacteria called Bacillus Subtilis. This message was then recovered some time
later from the bacteria.
The process is currently very slow, taking several days, but the technique
may prove very useful for data where speed is less of an issue, but longevity is
important.
Current data storage only lasts around 100 years, but this technology could
allow the safe storage of data for millions of years.
Professor Yoshiaki Ohashi, who led the study, said: "Information storage
using DNA is robust for more than one hundred million years."
According to the researchers, bacteria have particularly compact DNA which is
passed down from generation to generation.
Although mutations do occur as the data is passed from generation to
generation, the rate should be slow enough to maintain the data integrity.
Ohashi added that the process would work equally well in more complex living
organisms such as plants, fruit and insects.
Other applications are to create living data storage for nano-computers, or
to tag an organism for life using a unique identifier strand inserted into the
DNA.
Some commentators have raised concerns about the technique being used in
industrial or international espionage and data smuggling should it become
mainstream.
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