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Cited by 12Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware SecurityCRISPR and Genetic EngineeringDNA and Biological Computing

Genetic physical unclonable functions in human cells

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Li, Yi, Bidmeshki, Mohammad Mahdi, Kang, Taek, Nowak, Chance M., Makris, Yiorgos, Bleris, Leonidas·2022·Science Advances
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abm4106PMC PMC9067934
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Abstract

A physical unclonable function (PUF) is a physical entity that provides a measurable output that can be used as a unique and irreproducible identifier for the artifact wherein it is embedded. Popularized by the electronics industry, silicon PUFs leverage the inherent physical variations of semiconductor manufacturing to establish intrinsic security primitives for attesting integrated circuits. Owing to the stochastic nature of these variations, photolithographically manufactured silicon PUFs are impossible to reproduce (thus unclonable). Inspired by the success of silicon PUFs, we sought to create the first generation of genetic PUFs in human cells. We demonstrate that these PUFs are robust (i.e., they repeatedly produce the same output), unique (i.e., they do not coincide with any other identically produced PUF), and unclonable (i.e., they are virtually impossible to replicate). Furthermore, we demonstrate that CRISPR-engineered PUFs (CRISPR-PUFs) can serve as a foundational principle for establishing provenance attestation protocols.

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  • Biological physical unclonable functions exploit genetic differences in the process of engineering cell lines to provide robust, unique, and irreproducible identifying signatures of cells.

    “Similarly, biological PUFs exploit genetic differences in the process of engineering cell lines to provide robust, unique, and irreproducible identifying signatures of cells [147].”

    From The history, landscape, and outlook of human cell line authentication and security (2024) · cites this paper as [147]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Li, Y., Bidmeshki, M. M., Kang, T., Nowak, C. M., Makris, Y., & Bleris, L.
Affiliations
The University of Texas at Dallas (US)
Corresponding author
  • Makris, Yiorgos
  • Bleris, Leonidas
ORCID
Venue
Science Advances
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published
2022-05-06
Volume
8
Issue
18
Pages
eabm4106-eabm4106
ISSN
2375-2548 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.abm4106
PMC
PMC9067934
OpenAlex
W4229000547
Cited by
12
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4
FWCI
1.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Science Advances (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Hardware and Architecture › Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › DNA and Biological Computing
Keywords
physical unclonable functions, human cells, cell identity, biocomputing, biosecurity

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