DNA is the building block of life, but in the future it may also
be the standard repository for encyclopedias, music and other
digital data. Scientists announced yesterday that they
successfully converted 739 kilobytes of hard drive data in
genetic code and then retrieved the content with 100 percent
accuracy. The researchers began with the computer files from
some notable cultural highlights: an audio recording of MLK
Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, all 154 of Shakespeare’s
sonnets, and, appropriately, a copy of Watson and Crick’s
original research paper describing DNA’s double helix structure.
On a hard drive, these files are stored as a series of zeros and
ones. The researchers worked out a system to translate the
binary code into one with four characters instead: A, C, G and
T. They used this genetic code to synthesize actual strands of
DNA with the content embedded in its very structure.