Storing Data in Bacteria

Can you imagine being able to store data and sensitive information in bacteria? These microscopic organisms are most commonly known for causing disease, but scientists have managed to genetically engineer bacteria that can store encrypted data. The data is stored in bacterial DNA. Information such as text, images, music, and even video can be compressed and distributed between different bacterial cells.

By mapping the bacterial DNA, scientists can easily locate and retrieve the information. One gram of bacteria are capable of storing the same amount of data as can be stored in 450 hard disks with 2,000 gigabytes of storage space each.

Why Store Data in DNA?

Biostorage is the field of study that focuses on storing and encrypting information in living organisms. DNA is the ideal organic storage device because it naturally contains the programming instructions for living organisms. DNA is a type of organic molecule called a nucleic acid. It stores information using four nucleotide bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Nucleotide bases makeup an organism's genetic code, which directs protein production and cellular processes. Nucleotides form long strands of information that can be read, similar to a string of text. Comparably, data stored as binary code represents instructions in sequences of ones and zeros. Binary code can be encoded onto DNA by assigning a binary value, ones or zeros, to specific nucleotide bases.

The same applies to quaternary encoding, which uses sequences of zeros, ones, twos, and threes. These encoded genes can then be inserted into bacterial genome. DNA is a good storage medium because it is very dense, capable of storing large volumes of information, and extremely stable.

Why Store Data in Bacteria?

Bacteria are everywhere. They are on your cell phone, on your toothbrush, on your skin, and in your body. Bacteria are good candidates for biostorage because they replicate quickly, they have the capacity to store huge volumes of information, and they are resilient. Bacteria reproduce at an astounding rate and most reproduce by binary fission. Under optimal conditions, a single bacterial cell can produce as many as one hundred million bacteria in only one hour. Considering this, data stored in bacteria could be copied millions of times ensuring the preservation of information. Because bacteria are so small, they have the potential to store large quantities of information without taking up much space. It has been estimated that 1 gram of bacteria contains around 10 million cells. Bacteria are also resilient organisms. They can survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions. Bacteria can survive extreme conditions, whereas hard drives and other computer storage devices can not.

Data Stored in Bacteria

Scientists have successfully stored information in bacteria. Japanese researchers from Keio University Institute for Advanced Biosciences were able to encode Einstein's theory of relativity equation on the DNA of the soil bacterium bacillus subtilis. Researchers from Hong Kong's Chinese University have devised a method for storing data in Escherichia coli bacterial cells. The encoding mechanisms contain built-in checks to make sure that gene mutations in the bacteria do not corrupt the data. Different types of data, including text, images, music, and video were compressed and divided between different bacterial cells. According to student instructor Allen Yu of the biostorage project study, "Bacteria can't be hacked. All kinds of computers are vulnerable to electrical failures or data theft. But bacteria are immune from cyber attacks. You can safeguard the information." This information can be safely stored for thousands of years. While biostorage research has led to exciting discoveries, practical applications for using bacteria to store data are still a future endeavor. Storing data in bacteria is expensive. The encoded DNA must be synthesized and the information decoded, all at a hefty price. At present, biostorage is not an economical method for storing data. Innovations in DNA-related technologies however, may one day make DNA data storage economically viable.

 

_Sources:

• _{European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). "Researchers make DNA data storage a reality: Every film and TV program ever created -- in a teacup." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 January 2013. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130123133432.htm)}
• _{CUHK Biochemistry Students Win Gold at MIT Competition for Proving Bacteria DNA as Device for Information Storage. Chinese University of Hong Kong. Updated 11/24/14 (http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/pressrelease/101124e.htm)}