Storing digital data in bacteria

Bacillus subtilis bacteriaFor people who want to ensure their words last for their progeny, Japanese scientists have found a way to literally put a message into genes.

A research team said it had developed a technology for storing digital data in the DNA of bacteria, which unlike most living organisms can survive for millennia in the right conditions.

Each hay bacillus bacterium can store two megabits -- the equivalent of 1.6 million Roman letters. The scientists can take out the microscopic implants in a laboratory and read them so they appear as ordinary text.

The team at Keio University's Institute for Advanced Biosciences said the technology needs to be perfected but that it was optimistic about its future uses.

Link & Image: Yahoo News
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