Researchers at Hong Kong's Chinese University have found what might be the safest way to store data: not in a safe, not in the cloud, but in bacteria!
Biostorage, the term for storing and encrypting information in organisms, has only existed for close to a decade, but scientists say the method could soon allow for text, images, music, or even video to be "recorded" in E. Coli, according to Discovery.
By encoding data in bacterial DNA, the information has a virtually limitless lifespan. As each bacteria reproduces, the data could be copied thousands of times. By mapping E. Coli's DNA, that data can be easily found and isolated.
Perhaps more importantly however, bacteria isn't susceptible to intrusion.
"Bacteria can't be hacked," Allen Yu, a student instructor, told Discovery.
"All kinds of computers are vulnerable to electrical failures or data theft. But bacteria are immune from cyber attacks. You can safeguard the information."
The data can be split into chunks and distributed between different bacterial cells, which helps overcome any storage space issues.
The most amazing part? Capacity.
Just one gram of data-storing bacteria could hold the same amount of data as up to 450, 2,000 GB hard drives, according to Computerworld.
In addition, researchers have also developed a three-tier security fence to safeguard the data, and created an encoding mechanism that ensures the data can't be disturbed by mutations in bacterial cells.
After all, electronically-stored data is susceptible to electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), flooding, fire, power outages, and the age-old “having a building collapse on top of the server.”
The lyrics to “It’s a Small World After All" song was translated into a code based on the four letters that comprise DNA—A, G, T, and C—and manufacturing this code into artificial DNA, which was then inserted into bacteria such as E. coli. When the bacteria reproduced, the message was passed on through each generation, rendering it near-immortal. Even better, some types of bacteria can survive extreme conditions such as those that you’d find in a post-apocalyptic wilderness!
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