[QUOTE=POPSCI]
E. coli gets a bad rap – probably due to the violent illness it induces – but a group of Chinese University students in Hong Kong have found a novel and potentially reputation-changing use for the bacteria: data storage. [b]The team has devised a way to encrypt and store information in the DNA of bacteria to such an effective degree that they say just one gram of E. coli could store the same amount of data as 450 two-terabyte hard drives.( 900 TB )[/b]
Biostorage, or the storing of data in living things, is nascent but not new, having been around for about a decade. But earlier efforts at encoding data into DNA have been incremental – for instance, a few years back a team of Japanese researchers encoded Einstein’s relativity equation into the DNA of bacteria, demonstrating that it was possible but otherwise not pushing the field forward.
Three years later the strides taken by the Hong Kong team are far more significant, showing that not only text but also images, music, and video can be stored within cells. The team devised a means of compressing data into chunks that can be placed in different cells and mapped so that it can be easily located later, much as CPUs chop and store data in fragments. [b]They’ve even developed a three-tier security system that allows them to encrypt the data in an unhackable way, making data stored on their bacterial systems impervious to cyber threats.[/b]
In theory, bacterial biostorage systems could hold vast amounts of data in very small spaces,[b] and since the bacteria keep replicating they could feasibly store data reliably for millennia.[/b] But the applications don’t end there; the team is exploring ways their techniques could be used to encode extra information into organisms like genetically modified crops to create a sort of “bio barcode” that would identify the provenance of a certain strain of GM vegetable or help track the spread of certain GM crops designs.[/QUOTE]
I WONDER WHAT THE READ/WRITE TIME'S ARE?
Links
[url]http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-01/biostorage-scheme-turns-e-coli-bacteria-data-storing-hard-drives[/url]
[url]http://news.discovery.com/tech/bacteria-work-as-hard-drives-110110.html[/url]
That's...fucking awesome...SCIENCE!:science:
I wonder if it can corrupt over time? Like genetic mutations destroy the integrity of the data, maybe.
I have no need for your terrorist germ warfare drives!
(This is actually sounds pretty damn useful--imagine how much plastics and metal we'd save.)
[quote]one gram of E. coli could store the same amount of data as [B]450 two-terabyte hard drives[/B].[/quote]
that's an odd way of saying it, but basically 900TB of data in a single gram is pretty cool
Biostorage?! We're implanting information into bacteria! This is fucking awesome.
Bio computers here we come.
[QUOTE=macacan;27352944]I wonder if it can corrupt over time? Like genetic mutations destroy the integrity of the data, maybe.[/QUOTE]
Highly unlikely, and since the bacteria keep replicating they could feasibly store data reliably for millennia
and then the hard drive brakes and e-coli spills out
Great, I want a Bio-drive in my computer along with my [url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/virus-battery-0402.html]virus built battery![/url]
Not hackable? Well I'm gonna go make my own bacteria that can hack your bacteria :smug:
Not getting my hopes up since this is still a long way off. Still this is totally awesome.
And this, children, is how computers became self-replicating, self-aware machines of destruction.
[quote=thathippyman;27353046]and this, children, is how computers became self-replicating, self-aware machines of destruction.[/quote]
look out, they're gonna store your data!.
[QUOTE=ThatHippyMan;27353046]And this, children, is how computers became self-replicating, self-aware machines of destruction.[/QUOTE]
i just thought, wouldnt the bacteria reproduce and make more storage?
This is going to give computer viruses a whole new meaning.
[QUOTE=zerglingv2;27353027]Not hackable? Well I'm gonna go make my own bacteria that can hack your bacteria :smug:[/QUOTE]
Penecillin :smug:
[QUOTE=rampageturke 2;27353093]i just thought, wouldnt the bacteria reproduce and make more storage?[/QUOTE]
Yes somewhat
the new magnets
[QUOTE=rampageturke 2;27353093]i just thought, wouldnt the bacteria reproduce and make more storage?[/QUOTE]
Problem is, the bacteria will die too.
I have to fucking feed the computer now? Man, it's gonna die.
[QUOTE=bord2tears;27353271]I have to fucking feed the computer now? Man, it's gonna die.[/QUOTE]
Most likely not
It will need warmth and light and food but thats easy for the 1st 2 the food can have a self repinching tank and just refuel that ever month with some kind of food
[QUOTE=ineedateam1;27353333]Most likely not
It will need warmth and light and food but thats easy for the 1st 2 the food can have a self repinching tank and just refuel that ever month with some kind of food[/QUOTE]
So it'll run on the same basic sustenance as Facepunch users?
[QUOTE=ineedateam1;27353333]Most likely not
It will need warmth and light and food but thats easy for the 1st 2 the food can have a self repinching tank and just refuel that ever month with some kind of food[/QUOTE]
I am pretty sure they can make some short of system to feed energy directly into the bacteria using electricity like we do today. I mean, they aren't going to make us feed our computers... Right?
[editline]11th January 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Hiccuper;27353136]Penecillin :smug:[/QUOTE]
I am pretty sure that would kill the bacteria running your hard drive too.
[QUOTE=ineedateam1;27353333]Most likely not
It will need warmth and light and food but thats easy for the 1st 2 the food can have a self repinching tank and just refuel that ever month with some kind of food[/QUOTE]
They'll leave behind waste...
Soda seems very upset.
First steps towards a bioengineered computer. Nice!
all the e. coli in the world still isn't enough to store all my [del]porn[/del] gmod addons
I have a 60 Yottabyte brain.
And then the bacteria die and you lose all your data.
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