Scientists know that DNA can store information. And with that, they can also digitally store certain information using what's called 'DNA digital data storage'.
Previously, scientists have already tapped DNAs to store the nearly 600,000 word novel War and Peace, as well as all of the plant material archived at the Svalbard Seed Vault. They have also embedded an entire OK Go music video in live strands of DNA.
Taking that into a new level, scientists have used the gene editing technique known as CRISPR to implant DNA encoded with an animated .gif image of a galloping horse into live E. coli bacteria.
The experiment attempts to show the capabilities of genes as storage devices.
The experiment also highlights how the CRISPR-Cas tool can safely implant the information to living things. Basically, what it does is cutting existing DNA strands using a combination of special proteins and RNA molecules, and implant new genetics materials to mend the gap.
In short, it's like cutting and pasting different strands of DNA into another.
Encoding a .gif file showcases futuristic gene editing techniques that could one day be responsible for everything from eradicating disease to large scale data storage that relies on human cells rather than servers. And in this test, scientists have proven that not only they were able to implant the data, but they can reconstruct it later at 90-percent of its original quality.
"Our real goal is to enable cells to gather information about themselves and to store it in their genome for us to look at later." That concept is called the “molecular ticker tape," said Nivala, a co-author on the paper and geneticist at Harvard.
This is the first time that researchers have created a living library.
"If you think of a cell as a processor, this adds a thumb drive, which stores information for later processing," said Karin Strauss, lead researcher on Microsoft's own DNA storage project.
