Analysis on the development status of DNA storage based on papers and patents

DNA storage as a disruptive technology is expected to solve the problem of massive data storage.Based on bibliometric analysis of DNA storage related papers and patents,this paper analyzes the development trend of DNA storage technology.The results show that DNA technology is still in the development stage,in which only a small number of researchers are involved.USA is the global leading country of DNA storage research.Both universities and companies in USA have played an important role in promoting DNA storage research.China is second only to USA in the number of DNA storage related papers or patents.However,in terms of patents layout,Chinese institutions don’t have sufficient intention of opening up the global market in the application of DNA storage.Although there have been several breakthrough advances in DNA storage,there are still many challenges to be solved.

Engineering DNA Materials for Sustainable Data Storage Using a DNA Movable-Type System

DNA molecules are green materials with great potential for high-density and long-term data storage.However,the current data-writing process of DNA data storage via DNA synthesis suffers from high costs and the production of hazards,limiting its practical applications.Here,we developed a DNA movable-type storage system that can utilize DNA fragments pre-produced by cell factories for data writing.In this system,these pre-generated DNA fragments,referred to herein as“DNA movable types,”are used as basic writing units in a repetitive way.The process of data writing is achieved by the rapid assembly of these DNA movable types,thereby avoiding the costly and environmentally hazardous process of de novo DNA synthesis.With this system,we successfully encoded 24 bytes of digital information in DNA and read it back accurately by means of high-throughput sequencing and decoding,thereby demonstrating the feasibility of this system.Through its repetitive usage and biological assembly of DNA movable-type fragments,this system exhibits excellent potential for writing cost reduction,opening up a novel route toward an economical and sustainable digital data-storage technology.

DNA Data Storage Gets Random Access

Researchers have devised a system to recover targeted files from 200 megabytes of data encoded in DNA.Random access is a key for a practical DNA-based memory,but until now,researchers have been able to achieve it with only up to 0.15 megabytes of data.DNA data storage involves translating the binary 0s and 1s of digital data into sequences of the four bases A,C,G,and T that make up DNA.

Exogenous artificial DNA forms chromatin structure with active transcription in yeast

Yeast artificial chromosomes(YACs) are important tools for sequencing,gene cloning,and transferring large quantities of genetic information.However,the structure and activity of YAC chromatin,as well as the unintended impacts of introducing foreign DNA sequences on DNA-associated biochemical events,have not been widely explored.Here,we showed that abundant genetic elements like TATA box and transcription factor-binding motifs occurred unintentionally in a previously reported datacarrying chromosome(d Chr).In addition,we used state-of-the-art sequencing technologies to comprehensively profile the genetic,epigenetic,transcriptional,and proteomic characteristics of the exogenous d Chr.We found that the data-carrying DNA formed active chromatin with high chromatin accessibility and H3K4 tri-methylation levels.The d Chr also displayed highly pervasive transcriptional ability and transcribed hundreds of noncoding RNAs.The results demonstrated that exogenous artificial chromosomes formed chromatin structures and did not remain as naked or loose plasmids.A better understanding of the YAC chromatin nature will improve our ability to design better data-storage chromosomes.

Enabling technology and core theory of synthetic biology

Synthetic biology provides a new paradigm for life science research(“build to learn”)and opens the future journey of biotechnology(“build to use”).Here,we discuss advances of various principles and technologies in the mainstream of the enabling technology of synthetic biology,including synthesis and assembly of a genome,DNA storage,gene editing,molecular evolution and de novo design of function proteins,cell and gene circuit engineering,cell-free synthetic biology,artificial intelligence(AI)-aided synthetic biology,as well as biofoundries.We also introduce the concept of quantitative synthetic biology,which is guiding synthetic biology towards increased accuracy and predictability or the real rational design.We conclude that synthetic biology will establish its disciplinary system with the iterative development of enabling technologies and the maturity of the core theory.