Here's the image that was encoded:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muybridge_horse_gall...
Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
11–20 of 59 posts
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#12I read the article, but I'm still quite confused. How exactly did they "insert" a computer image into living bacteria?? Do they mean they have stored binary code in the bacteria?? Or did they just physically create a fine image somewhere in the bacteria???
they store the data in the dna, they encode pixels using ATGC, and re-sequence. But they only have one population of bacteria that contain all of the same data.
I don't know much about how DNA works, but by inserting ATGC sequences, does that not mess up the bacteria's replication process or something? How would the cell 'read' this encoded gif in the DNA? Would it try to build a protein because of it, or would it ignore the sequence? Do cells usually have a checksum-type of functionality to detect if their DNA is valid/unmutated? The article itself didn't make any mention, but could there possibly be negative impacts to the cell hosting this data by having its DNA altered?
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#13Anyone have any info on the amount of data that was encoded?
It looks like it was a low resolution image with 5 frames, so I expect it to be about 1 Kb, max?
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#14How likely is it than storing arbitrary data in a bacteria's DNA would allow it to create something dangerous for humans?
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
they store the data in the dna, they encode pixels using ATGC, and re-sequence. But they only have one population of bacteria that contain all of the same data.
I don't know much about how DNA works, but by inserting ATGC sequences, does that not mess up the bacteria's replication process or something? How would the cell 'read' this encoded gif in the DNA? Would it try to build a protein because of it, or would it ignore the sequence? Do cells usually have a checksum-type of functionality to detect if their DNA is valid/unmutated? The article itself didn't make any mention,…
DNA of many organisms has "dead" sequences that currently don't do anything, but still get copied/replicated. (or are only activated under certain circumstances, which even can be programmed in some sense by adding specific other sequences around them)
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
they store the data in the dna, they encode pixels using ATGC, and re-sequence. But they only have one population of bacteria that contain all of the same data.
I don't know much about how DNA works, but by inserting ATGC sequences, does that not mess up the bacteria's replication process or something? How would the cell 'read' this encoded gif in the DNA? Would it try to build a protein because of it, or would it ignore the sequence? Do cells usually have a checksum-type of functionality to detect if their DNA is valid/unmutated? The article itself didn't make any mention,…
Right I'm no biologist, but my understanding is that there's vast amount of dna that doesn't really do anything (doesn't encode any proteins). I don't remember why... maybe it used to do stuff a long time ago.
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#17How likely is it than storing arbitrary data in a bacteria's DNA would allow it to create something dangerous for humans?
Approximately like the chance that DNA sequence of a virus, when executed as shell code, will infect your machine.
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#18I gloriously await from teenage hackers 10 years from now release CRISPR viruses/worms that insert GIF meme pranks into the human population germ line, eventually triggering the apocalypse.
It seems our ability to mess stuff up is growing faster than our ability to defend against bugs. I shudder to think what happens when sloppy engineering practices or "WannaCry" meet biology. Hey, we've encrypted your germ line, and sterilized you, send Bitcoin to XXXXX to restore your fertility.
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#19[deleted]
Re: Scientists have inserted a GIF of a horse into living bacteria
#20so storing data on multiple (billions of bacteria). I assume that you would have populations of duplicates and would piece together your entire original dataset (e.g. a tar) using start and end encoding tags? How do you re-sequence multiple populations of bacteria that you just grab from a sample sitting in a -80c freezer? You'd also have to prevent them from modifying their own genome and messing up your data.
You could store it redundantly, in a genetic RAID