Researchers store data in bacteria DNA
These days, data get stored on disks, computer chips, hard drives and good old-fashioned paper. Scientists in Japan see something far smaller but more durable – bacteria.
The four characters that represent the genetic coding in DNA work much like digital data. Character combinations can stand for specific letters and symbols – so codes in genomes can be translated, or read, to produce music, text, video and other content.
While ink may fade and computers may crash, bacterial information lasts as long as a species stays alive – possibly a mind-boggling million years – according to Professor Masaru Tomita, who heads the team of researchers at Keio University.
Tomita’s team successfully inserted into a common bacterium Albert Einstein’s famous “E=mc²” equation and “1905,” the year the Nobel Prize-winning physicist published the special theory of relativity. -- Associated Press
Genetic coding is so massive that information – say, a Shakespeare play – can be stashed away somewhere in the gene without affecting an organism’s overall appearance and other traits.
But mutation could distort stored data. Tomita says data are stored in four places in the bacteria so the data stay intact, though Katsumi Doi, bacteria expert and Kyushu University professor, is skeptical.
“We may need more time for practical applications,” Doi said. “But I love the idea.”
These days, data get stored on disks, computer chips, hard drives and good old-fashioned paper. Scientists in Japan see something far smaller but more durable – bacteria.
The four characters that represent the genetic coding in DNA work much like digital data. Character combinations can stand for specific letters and symbols – so codes in genomes can be translated, or read, to produce music, text, video and other content.
While ink may fade and computers may crash, bacterial information lasts as long as a species stays alive – possibly a mind-boggling million years – according to Professor Masaru Tomita, who heads the team of researchers at Keio University.
Tomita’s team successfully inserted into a common bacterium Albert Einstein’s famous “E=mc²” equation and “1905,” the year the Nobel Prize-winning physicist published the special theory of relativity. -- Associated Press
Genetic coding is so massive that information – say, a Shakespeare play – can be stashed away somewhere in the gene without affecting an organism’s overall appearance and other traits.
But mutation could distort stored data. Tomita says data are stored in four places in the bacteria so the data stay intact, though Katsumi Doi, bacteria expert and Kyushu University professor, is skeptical.
“We may need more time for practical applications,” Doi said. “But I love the idea.”
