Robust Chemical Preservation of Digital Information on DNA in Silica with Error-Correcting Codes†
We would like to thank the Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering of ETH Zurich, the Swiss National Science Foundation grant (no. 200021-150179), and the EU-ITN network Mag(net)icFun (PITN-GA-2012-290248) for financial support. We thank Christof Wunderlin (Microsynth AG) and Marcello Caraballo (Customarray Inc.) for support with DNA synthesis and sequencing.
Graphical Abstract
Committing to memory: Digital information can endure thousands of years of storage when translated into ACGT nucleotide coding and encapsulated as DNA in silica glass spheres. This method was demonstrated with the digitalized Archimedes Palimpsest.
Abstract
Information, such as text printed on paper or images projected onto microfilm, can survive for over 500 years. However, the storage of digital information for time frames exceeding 50 years is challenging. Here we show that digital information can be stored on DNA and recovered without errors for considerably longer time frames. To allow for the perfect recovery of the information, we encapsulate the DNA in an inorganic matrix, and employ error-correcting codes to correct storage-related errors. Specifically, we translated 83 kB of information to 4991 DNA segments, each 158 nucleotides long, which were encapsulated in silica. Accelerated aging experiments were performed to measure DNA decay kinetics, which show that data can be archived on DNA for millennia under a wide range of conditions. The original information could be recovered error free, even after treating the DNA in silica at 70 °C for one week. This is thermally equivalent to storing information on DNA in central Europe for 2000 years.
