Donde almacenar datos?.\u00a0“El ADN no se degradar\u00e1 con el tiempo como las\u00a0cintas de casete y CDs, \u00a0no se volver\u00e1 obsoleto”, dice Yaniv Erlich, un inform\u00e1tico de la Universidad de Columbia. La novedad : los cient\u00edficos han insertado un GIF en el ADN de las bacterias vivas, incrustaron una imagen de una mano y un clip de cinco cuadros en bacterias de E. Coli , y\u00a0despu\u00e9s de varias generaciones se pudo reconstruir \u00a0la imagen perfectamente\u00a0 y el v\u00eddeo\u00a0con 90 por ciento de precisi\u00f3n\u2026 Desde el 2012 se llevan a cabo\u00a0investigaciones\u00a0para \u00a0codificar datos digitales en ADN \u00a0y\u00a0 crear \u00a0as\u00ed\u00a0sistemas de almacenamiento con\u00a0la \u00a0mayor densidad que se haya inventado. Se especula que ser\u00e1 capaz de almacenar 215 petabytes (215 millones de gigabytes) en un solo gramo de ADN\u2026 Es ultracompacto, y puede durar cientos de miles de a\u00f1os si se mantiene en un lugar fresco y seco. Mientras los\u00a0\u00a0humanos\u00a0est\u00e9n leyendo y escribiendo ADN, ser\u00e1n capaces de decodificarlo.<\/p>\n
DNA is an excellent medium for archiving data. Recent efforts have illustrated the potential for information storage in DNA using synthesized oligonucleotides assembled\u00a0in vitro<\/i>1<\/a>,\u00a02<\/a>,\u00a03<\/a>,\u00a04<\/a>,\u00a05<\/a>,\u00a06<\/a><\/sup>. A relatively unexplored avenue of information storage in DNA is the ability to write information into the genome of a living cell by the addition of nucleotides over time. Using the Cas1\u2013Cas2 integrase, the CRISPR\u2013Cas microbial immune system stores the nucleotide content of invading viruses to confer adaptive immunity7<\/a><\/sup>. When harnessed, this system has the potential to write arbitrary information into the genome8<\/a><\/sup>. Here we use the CRISPR\u2013Cas system to encode the pixel values of black and white images and a short movie into the genomes of a population of living bacteria. In doing so, we push the technical limits of this information storage system and optimize strategies to minimize those limitations. We also uncover underlying principles of the CRISPR\u2013Cas adaptation system, including sequence determinants of spacer acquisition that are relevant for understanding both the basic biology of bacterial adaptation and its technological applications. This work demonstrates that this system can capture and stably store practical amounts of real data within the genomes of populations of living cells.<\/p>\n