Stanford Team achieves 1 Bit of Rewritable DNA Memory, Aims for 1 Byte
A new paper out from Stanford University’s Dept. of Bioengineering details success in “demonstrat[ing] a Rewriteable Recombinase Addressable Data (RAD) module that reliably stores digital information within a chromosome.” [abstract].
The DNA bits use two proteins of bacteriophageal origin, an excisionase and integrase, to influence sections of DNA to point one direction or the other, based on which protein is influencing it.
The study details, among other observations, some of the following:
- Switching and storage cycle for long and short pulses;
- Quantification of switching plus storage efficiency of the RAD module for long input cycles;
- Quantification of switching plus storage efficiency of the RAD module for short input cycles;
- Cells in the LR state were RESET, switched and stored the BP state. After 40 generation, cells were SET back or grown without inducer up to 100 generations of storage.
The bioengineering approach adds another type of materials science to computationally digital analogues of standard silicon and electricity architectures, joining Slime Molds and advances in quantum computing qbits.
