Considering the sheer amount of data humankind is produce in the digital years , better how we salt away it is a undertaking scientist are racing to take on . encode datum in strings of molecules – aka polymers – is a hopeful avenue , overcoming matter of seniority and durability associate with the usual Si - base depot . One method of doing this involves put one across info into DNA , with things such asmusic videosand theentirety of Wikipediarepresented in genetic codification .
However , although promising , DNA digital data computer storage is slow , expensive , and could have issue with long - terminus stableness . Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have showcased how information could be put in using polymers of a urethane - like plastic , potentially a more unchanging , efficient , and price - effective medium than DNA .
In a composition published inCell Reports Physical Sciences , they show their method by befool and then decoding a passage from the novel Mansfield Park by Jane Austen . The quote reads : " If one scheme of happiness fails , human nature turns to another ; if the first calculation is wrong , we make a second better : we find ease somewhere . "
In astatement , paper source Samuel Dahlhauser explained that " This picky passage was prefer because we experience it was pick up in these trying times , and it is easily understood without the context in the book . "
First , the text edition was converted to binary code , then this binary computer code was converted into hexadecimal code . The team produced 16 individual particle called oligourethanes to dissemble as the building auction block of the polymer string , aka monomers . Using the Mol . E - software engineer software develop by the team , this hexadecimal code was then converted into 18 polymer string , made up of a totality of 176 monomers .
A summons called ego - immolation was used to decode the sequence . Luckily , despite the name , this does n’t involve anyone setting themselves on flak – instead , this process involves one monomer at a prison term being split off the polymer . The molecular weight of the string before and after the cleavage earmark the individual monomers – and finally , the entire polymer sequence – to be identify .
To test whether their system would be useable by someone without intimate noesis of their coding organization , the team task a co-worker who was not involved in the projection to decode the citation . On their 2d attempt ( the first have two mistakes due to human error ) , the passage was decoded in full .
This molecular method of lay in datum could be a big improvement on anterior methods . The modified amount of monomer that previous methods use ( for example , the four bases of DNA ) have in mind that farsighted strings of monomers must be used to stand for comparatively small amounts of information . The sixteen monomers of the current method , as well as the team using a more efficient path to convert the data into binary , means that this method can be more information - dense and effective .
