DNA for data storage and computing

Abstract

On the surface, genetic and electrical engineering appear to have little in common. One field revolves around carbon and the other is built upon silicon; one makes RNA from DNA and the other converts AC to DC. Some biologists have begun to apply the concepts of electrical engineering to living cells, literally programming them for data storage and computation. Image courtesy of Timothy Lu and Yan Liang. But some creative biologists have begun to apply the concepts of electrical engineering to living cells. “We view ourselves as biological programmers,” says Timothy Lu, a member of the Synthetic Biology Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Lu and others are engineering circuits into bacterial cells, literally programming them for functions, such as data storage and computation. DNA’s straightforward, self-replicating helices are easy to amplify, modify, and are generally quite stable, says Lu. And since each position of DNA can encode four different pieces of information—A, T, G, or C—instead of just two, as with classic binary silicon systems, DNA could someday, in principle, store more data in less space. “The same properties that make DNA a great genetic code for living organisms also makes it an interesting substrate to engineer,” …