Why Use DVDs? Store Movies in DNA!
As it is now known today, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has the incredible capacity to store all the information necessary to create and sustain life. From single-celled organisms to human beings, the recipe of life can be credited to DNA. With the huge role DNA already plays, it can seem almost incomprehensible to imagine that it has the capacity to be used in other ways. Nevertheless, recent developments now show that DNA can store information in the form of video recordings, by encoding it in its sequence of nucleotides.
Bacteria have a protective immune system called the CRISPR-Cas9 immune system; this protective arrangement is incredibly effective in fending off smaller viruses and bacteriophages that invade bacteria. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is the basis of a system that allows bacteria to acquire the DNA or RNA from an invading virus. By incorporating the invader’s genetic information, the bacteria can easily recognize that same virus and release the destructive elements of its immune system if infected again. This allows the organism to obtain an increasing library of genetic information to refer back to in order to better protect itself against harmful agents.
Bacteria have a protective immune system called the CRISPR-Cas9 immune system; this protective arrangement is incredibly effective in fending off smaller viruses and bacteriophages that invade bacteria. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is the basis of a system that allows bacteria to acquire the DNA or RNA from an invading virus. By incorporating the invader’s genetic information, the bacteria can easily recognize that same virus and release the destructive elements of its immune system if infected again. This allows the organism to obtain an increasing library of genetic information to refer back to in order to better protect itself against harmful agents.
Harnessing the ability of an organism’s immune system to store information about previous viral threats has many implications for the future of biotechnology and medicine.
Image Source: qimono
Using this information, biologists have discovered a way to utilize the CRISPR-Cas9 system to store information in the form of video recordings. By integrating black and white images into the genetic information of a population of bacteria, biologists were able to create a short movie stored in their DNA sequences. They discovered that their endeavours were successful when they were able to retrieve the movie, intact, from the bacteria’s DNA. Although the movie that was stored was made up of a series of simple black and white images, these experiments may be only the beginning of many possible developments.
The implications for this development are both massive and significant in the scientific and medical world: in the future, the concepts applied to storing video recordings in these bacteria can be useful in serving a purpose in the human body as well. Biologists have suggested that bacteria could possibly be introduced into the human body; from here, they would be able to record certain events that take place in cells, such as when cells become cancerous. Being able to identify the transition would allow biologists to understand the mechanism, consequently opening doors for possible treatments for cancer.. In conclusion, the CRISPR-Cas9 system could potentially be an invaluable tool for comprehending life through the minute, molecular details of organisms.
The implications for this development are both massive and significant in the scientific and medical world: in the future, the concepts applied to storing video recordings in these bacteria can be useful in serving a purpose in the human body as well. Biologists have suggested that bacteria could possibly be introduced into the human body; from here, they would be able to record certain events that take place in cells, such as when cells become cancerous. Being able to identify the transition would allow biologists to understand the mechanism, consequently opening doors for possible treatments for cancer.. In conclusion, the CRISPR-Cas9 system could potentially be an invaluable tool for comprehending life through the minute, molecular details of organisms.
Featured Image Source: qimono
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