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Just like 1s and 0s are the way computers encode information, DNA base pairs do the same. And although this plastic rabbit is not alive, instructions for how to replicate it are encoded into the rabbit itself.
But DNA offers more density than 1s and 0s, packing all of the instructions for a human body into the nucleus of a cell. And research teams around the world have been demonstrating that they’re able to encode hundreds of thousands of terabytes of digital data in GRAM-quantities of DNA.
Picture hundreds of thousands one-terabyte hard drives and all of the information you could store on them—videos, photos, and more—and then picture all that information being stored in just a few grams of biological material. DNA offers quite the improvement to existing digital data storage methods, like the chips, spinning discs and magnetic tape that you might be used to.
And this 3D-printed plastic rabbit is a first foray into what researchers are calling the ‘DNA of Things.’ So how exactly do you get DNA into a plastic object like this?
Find out more about this innovation, what it could mean for the future of data storage, as well as how it could be utilized in all kinds of industries, like construction, pharmaceuticals and electronics in this Elements.
#data #dna #biotech #3dprinting #science #seeker #elements
How Exactly Is the Human Body Organized?
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materials with embedded memory
"DNA storage offers substantial information density
and exceptional half-life."
3D-printed bunny contains DNA instructions to make a copy of itself
"A 3D-printed polyester rabbit has been embedded with DNA that contains a blueprint for printing additional bunnies."
With DNA Data Storage, 3D-Printed Bunnies Carry Their Own Blueprints
"Every living thing contains DNA that provides the codes for its existence, and now inanimate objects can have that, too."
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