The potential of plants and seeds in DNA-Based information storage

Abstract

New approaches for data archiving are required due to a constant increase in digital information production and lack of a capacitive, low maintenance storage medium. High-density information encoding and longevity are the two important advantages which have recently made DNA an attractive target for information storage. However, creating new copies of the same encoded information by producing new, artificial DNA sequences is not financially viable. Moreover, a naked DNA molecule can be greatly affected by environmental influences, thus resulting in DNA mutations and changes in the stored information. Our approach demonstrates the great potential of plants and seeds in circumventing these drawbacks. It shows that artificially encoded data can be stored and multiplied within plants.