Biologists have long known that nature has outstripped humans in data storage. DNA, for example, can store information much more efficiently, holding up to 215 million gigabytes of data per gram of material. Under the right conditions, this type of storage can exist for millennia, so scientists are trying to find optimal ways to store data in DNA. In a new study, a team from Singapore presented technology that works like a biological version of a digital camera. His name was BacCam.

How does it work

DNA is difficult to synthesize artificially and can be fragile, making it difficult to use on a large scale. But scientists took a slightly different route and eventually developed a method for writing data onto and reading from DNA.

Think of the DNA in a cell as an immature photographic film. Using optogenetics, a technique that controls cell activity with light, similar to the shutter mechanism of a camera, we were able to capture “images” by printing light signals onto a “film” of DNA.
– Chue Loo Po explains the author of the piece.

Red and blue light lasers are used to trigger gene expression in specially designed bacteria and encode the data in their DNA. Existing barcoding techniques are used to label data with unique identification tags that can then be organized and found using machine learning algorithms.

During testing, the team demonstrated that the BacCam system can be used to capture and store multiple images simultaneously.

The authors of the work say that their method is economically beneficial. They are currently looking for other applications for their invention.