Scientist records data in bacteria.

A group of students from Hong Kong's Chinese University are making progress in Biostorage arena which could change our perception of storing data. These students are making research on E.coli bacterium(potential source of serious food poisoning) in which they intend to store such vast amounts of information.

Biostorage, the art of storing and encrypting information in living organisms, a new field which emerged about a decade ago.

In 2007, a team at Japan's Keio University said they had successfully encoded the equation that represents Einstein's theory of relativity, E=MC2, in the DNA of a common soil bacterium.

Because bacteria constantly reproduce, a group of the single-celled organisms could store a piece of information for thousands of years.

This group from Hong Kong has developed a method of compressing data, splitting it into chunks and distributing it between different bacterial cells, which helps to overcome limits on storage capacity. They are also able to "map" the DNA so information can be easily located.

And the best thing about this Biostorage is they can't be hacked.

Professor Chan Ting Fung, who supervised the student team, told AFP that practical work in the field -- fostered by MIT, who have helped develop standards enabling researchers to collaborate -- was in its early stages.

- AFP Inputs
Via: [Physorg]

Scientist records data in bacteria.