DNA was used for writing and reading large volumes of data, reports Science. The unusual media first recorded code of the operating system and another five files, and then read the data without errors.
The essence of the experiment
Researchers from Columbia University and the new York genome center used the algorithm streaming video from smartphones or tablets. Modifying it, the researchers ensured that information was compressed and stored in the four nucleotide bases.
The algorithm fully unleash the potential of DNA to store information
Experiments on the storage of data in DNA were reported previously. However, such a large amount of information coded and read without error the first time.
This time the DNA has been preserved:
– KolibriOS the operating system for computers.
– The film “arrival of a train at the station of La Ciotat” in 1896 – is one of the first films shot and shown by the Lumiere brothers.
– The research of Claude Shannon on the theory of information 1948.
– Computer virus.
– The photo with the plates “Pioneer.”
– Code a $ 50 Amazon gift cards.
All files combined into one and then split it into lines of binary code. Using the algorithm of fountain codes, they converted the combinations 00, 01, 10, 11 four nucleotide bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). Then for blocks added the label and saved as a 72 thousand strands of DNA of about 200 bases each.
The data in a text file gave the specialists of Twist Bioscience. Those two weeks synthesized DNA turned digital information into a test tube with molecules.
Multiplying the DNA using PCR, it is possible to generate up and restore data
To decrypt the data, the researchers used sequencing technology, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and special software. Data was restored without error.
The researchers emphasize that DNA is the ideal environment for storing information. Experts from Harvard University in 2012 found that 1 cubic millimeter of DNA can store 5.5 petabytes of data. Now a gram of DNA placed 215 Pb – 100 times more than before. It is important that access to the information encoded in DNA can survive for hundreds of thousands of years – numerous archaeological finds proof.
By the way, the first to store information in DNA was proposed by the Soviet physicist Michael Neumann. The article on oligonucleotides Neumann was published in 1964 in the magazine “radio”.
The only disadvantage – the high price
For the synthesis of DNA with 2 MB of data scientists took 7 thousand dollars to decrypt 2 thousand to reduce the cost of the process, researchers suggest the use of molecules of lower quality. To recover the data and fix mistakes can be due to specific encoding techniques.