Scientists have been hard at work adapting microorganisms for use as everything from microbial fuel cells to really, really small gears. Now, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have developed a way to use a colony of E.Coli for data storage and encryption….See details.
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The technique involved placing data in the DNA of bacterial cells, and can even harness site specific genetic recombination to encrypt the data. The technology is still in its infancy: retrieving the info is “tedious and expensive,” according to Cambridge University’s Tim Middleton, and there is still the possibility that as organisms mutate, so will the data. Currently the only application of all this is the storage of copyright info in genetically engineered organisms, although further research might yield a bacterial storage medium that could survive the electromagnetic pulses and radiation of nuclear fallout.