May 22, 2012

Scientists have found a way to create rewritable digital data storage in DNA through means similar to binary coding.

The researchers worked to reapply natural enzymes adapted from bacteria to flip specific genetic sequences of DNA back and forth at will.

The scientists, who all work in the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University Medical Center, said their method essentially works like that of binary computer coding.

Essentially, if the DNA section points in one direction, its a zero. If it points the other way, its a one, graduate student Pakpoom Subsoontorn said in a press release.

Assistant professor Dr. Drew Endy said that programmable data storage within the DNA of living cells could potentially be a powerful tool for studying cancer, aging, and organismal development.

The scientists could count how many times a cell divides, which could someday gives researchers the ability to turn off cells before they turn cancerous.

Their work is known as recombinase-mediated DNA inversion, which is the enzymatic process used to cut, flip and recombine DNA within the cell.

During the research, the team used a device known as a recombinase addressable data module, or RAD for short. They used RAD to modify a particular section of DNA within microbes that determine how the one-celled organisms will fluoresce under UV light.

The microbes glow red or green, depending upon the orientation of the section of DNA. The scientists can then flip the section back and forth at will.

Here is the original post:
Scientists Create Rewritable DNA