Metastable hybridization-based DNA information storage to allow rapid and permanent erasure
Open accessAbstract
The potential of DNA as an information storage medium is rapidly growing due to advances in DNA synthesis and sequencing. However, the chemical stability of DNA challenges the complete erasure of information encoded in DNA sequences. Here, we encode information in a DNA information solution, a mixture of true message- and false message-encoded oligonucleotides, and enables rapid and permanent erasure of information. True messages are differentiated by their hybridization to a "truth marker” oligonucleotide, and only true messages can be read; binding of the truth marker can be effectively randomized even with a brief exposure to the elevated temperature. We show 8 separate bitmap images can be stably encoded and read after storage at 25 °C for 65 days with an average of over 99% correct information recall, which extrapolates to a half-life of over 15 years at 25 °C. Heating to 95 °C for 5 minutes, however, permanently erases the message.
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Beyond random access, other file operations such as encryption with genomic keys, erasure on the basis of obfuscation, and rewriting by chemical modification or PCR are also supported by sequence-based DNA data storage.
“Beyond random access, other file operations such as encryption with genomic keys,79 erasure on the basis of obfuscation,80 and rewriting by chemical modification or PCR81,82 are also supported by sequence-based DNA data storage.”
From Emerging Approaches to DNA Data Storage: Challenges and Prospects (2022) · cites this paper as [80]
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- Authors
- Kim, J., Bae, J. H., Baym, M., & Zhang, D. Y.
- Affiliations
- Rice University (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, David Yu
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2020-10-06
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5008-5008
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7538566
- OpenAlex
- W3092532862
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 0.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Rice Research Repository (Rice University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Human Genome Research Institute (R01HG008752)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › DNA and Biological Computing
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry
- Keywords
- information erasure, oligonucleotide hybridization, thermal denaturation
- MeSH terms
- Base Sequence, Nucleic Acid Hybridization, Oligonucleotides, Paintings, Solutions, Temperature, Time Factors, Information Storage and Retrieval
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