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DNA For Information Processing and Data Storage

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the but-how-many-mp3s-can-it-store dept.

Haydn Fenton writes "Here is an article on using DNA for data storage and even information processing. From the article, "The DNA molecule - nature's premier data storage material - may hold the key for the information technology industry as it faces demands for more compact data processing and storage circuitry. A team led by Richard Kiehl, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota, has used DNA's ability to assemble itself into predetermined patterns to construct a synthetic DNA scaffolding with regular, closely spaced docking sites that can direct the assembly of circuits for processing or storing data.""

19 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    i hope the feds don't find any copyrighted material stored in my DNA...

  2. Eww by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny
    > DNA For Information Processing and Data Storage

    /.'s who masturbate near their computers need to stop. Bad aiming could corrupt your hard drive!

  3. 640K DNA molecules... by GillBates0 · · Score: 2, Funny
    ought to be good enough for anybody.

    -GillBates0.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  4. SCO and DNA by lordsilence · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just wait till SCO find infringing code in YOUR DNA..

  5. Slow Posting by ClownsScareMe · · Score: 5, Funny

    Could people be *gasp* reading the article?

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    I read Slashdot for the articles
  6. Nasty unforeseen consequence by borroff · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unfortunately, when the tune "Jingle Bells" is coded in DNA for storage, it turns out to be a version of the flu...

    1. Re:Nasty unforeseen consequence by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 2, Funny

      You think that's bad? Encoding a Britney Spears album produced Ebola, Rift Valley fever, four Marburg variants and the freakin Andromeda Strain.

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      --- Ban humanity.
  7. Re:So how long... by savagedome · · Score: 5, Funny

    How long until Religious Nuts start claiming to see hidden messages encoded in our DNA telling us to love Jesus?

    Each DNA strand is a number. Like the Hebrew A, Alef is 1. B, Bet is 2. You understand? But look at this. The strands are inter-related. Like take the Hebrew word for father, 'Ab' - Alef Bet... 1, 2 equals 3. Alright? Hebrew word for mother, 'em' - Alef Mem... 1, 40 equals 41. Sum of 3 and 41... 44. Alright? Now, Hebrew word for child, alright, mother... father... child, 'Yeled' - that's 10, 30, and 4... 44

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  8. Already see problems. by RedA$$edMonkey · · Score: 1, Funny

    Damn, now where did I put that strand of DNA with all my pr0n.

    1. Re:Already see problems. by ClownsScareMe · · Score: 3, Funny

      Take a wild guess.

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      I read Slashdot for the articles
  9. But Office is bigger than your DNA. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    I doubt Gates said this, considering that Microsoft Office is bigger than your entire genome

    Either Human DNA is programmed very well, or Office is programmed very poorly.

  10. DNA plus Information Processing equals... by amstrad · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...Eddie, your super friendly shipboard computer.

  11. D'oh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    That means data integrity, a Good Thing.

    So MySQL won't support it, then---but you can do it in the application layer.

  12. Re:It works on so many levels by LSD-OBS · · Score: 2, Funny

    Mayonnaise, however, does. And it goes great with chips!

    --
    Today's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why. -- Hunter S. Thompson
  13. And it's really fun to make backups.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sex as a backup device!!!! That's way cooler than tape drives.

  14. Viruses by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Funny

    So the equivalent of a SQL, insert field command, will be a retro-virus? Will my database be down...with a cold?

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  15. I would prefer to use RNA by dfn5 · · Score: 3, Funny
    Sure, go ahead and use DNA, if you want your data to mutate.
    I will use RNA (Raided Nucleic Acid) instead.

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    -- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
  16. I can just hear it now... by Bhasin_N · · Score: 3, Funny

    "In Breaking news, a minor short circuit has caused a freak mutation at Genetic Information Inc. causing all the chips to asexually reproduce and take over the coffe machines"

  17. Re:So ... by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 2, Funny
    We've gone from "heroicly unmodifiable" to "has modifiable sidechains" with two +5 informatives. Someone's right.

    You have forgotten Slashdot Rule #6: Don't let the facts get in the way of the moderation.