Integrating DNA-Based Memory in Water-Resistant Electrospun Polymer Fibers for Nondestructive Data Retrieval

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Materials Science
• Information Science

Background:

• DNA offers exceptional longevity and information density for digital data storage.
• Current DNA data storage methods are being advanced by coding, synthesis, and sequencing technologies.
• Embedding synthetic DNA into materials enhances its stability and accessibility for data archiving.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a versatile method for storing digital information in synthetic DNA embedded within polymer fibers.
• To explore the use of various polymer compositions for creating robust DNA data storage media.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of on-demand data retrieval from DNA-polymer composites.

Main Methods:

• Digital information was encoded into synthetic oligonucleotides.
• These oligonucleotides were embedded into composite polymer fibers using solution electrospinning.
• Fiber compositions included hydrophilic (poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(ethylene oxide)) and hydrophobic (polycaprolactone, cellulose acetate) polymers, followed by cross-linking for water resistance.

Main Results:

• Successful on-demand retrieval of both short and long messages encoded in DNA was achieved from all tested fiber compositions.
• DNA/cellulose acetate fiber composites demonstrated nondestructive readout capabilities, allowing repeated data access without damaging the fiber or DNA.
• The manufacturing approach proved simple and robust, suitable for scalable DNA data storage.

Conclusions:

• The developed method provides a versatile and robust approach to DNA data storage using polymer fibers.
• The DNA/cellulose acetate composite offers a promising nondestructive readout memory solution for long-term data archiving.
• This scalable manufacturing technique contributes to the development of accessible DNA data storage solutions.