Data encoded in DNA can stored and retrieved as needed from a room temperature material By Sometimes science fiction does inspire science research. À la ’s entombed mosquito, scientists have developed a method to store DNA in an amberlike material and still extract it easily hours later. is cheaper and faster than existing options, the researchers report in the June .
If you want to store information for a very long time, possibly forever, DNA is the way to do it, says James Banal, a chemist at MIT and technical director of a biotechnology company called Cache DNA, headquartered in San Carlos, Calif. DNA stores the genetic information of millions of organisms, but it can potentially be used to store , including digital data such as text, photos, and more ( ). DNA’s storage density is many orders of magnitude higher than that of any device humans have created.
For example, if every movie ever made was encoded in DNA, it would fit inside the volume of a sugar cube with room to spare. But DNA is also incredibly fragile and needs careful handling and storage. Existing storage methods require freezing temperatures, specialized equipment or hazardous chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid.
Researchers have tried storing DNA at room temperature in and other materials, without success. Banal and colleagues’ new method, called Thermoset-REinforced Xeropreservation (T-REX), encapsulates DNA in glassy polymer networks at room temperature. Using a combination of lock-and-key chemica.
