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Thermo-Responsive Living Microspheroids Enable a Regenerative Living Disk-Drive System for DNA Data Storage
Hao Luo1,2,3, JinKai Gao1,2,3, XiangXiang Huang1,2,3
1Biomanufacturing Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, P. R. China.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|June 23, 2026
Summary
Scientists developed a regenerative Living Disk-Drive using engineered living memory microspheroids (ELMMs) for reusable DNA data storage. This system enables closed-loop retrieval, regeneration, and data rewriting, overcoming limitations of traditional DNA memory.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Synthetic Biology
- Data Storage
Background:
- DNA offers high information density and stability but lacks reusable architecture and faces destructive readout.
- Current DNA data storage methods are not easily addressable or regenerative at the device level.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a regenerative, physically addressable architecture for DNA data storage.
- To overcome limitations of destructive readout and enable reusable DNA memory systems.
Main Methods:
- Engineered living memory microspheroids (ELMMs) encapsulating data-encoded bacteria were developed.
- A Living Disk-Drive system was created using a lyophilized ELMM database, an Optical Retriever, and a desktop-scale Living Drive.
- CRISPR-Cas12a/λ-Red system enabled rewriting of data sequences and retrieval tags within ELMMs.
Main Results:
- The Living Disk-Drive system demonstrated closed-loop retrieval, regeneration, and database replenishment.
- ELMMs retained data retrieval, bacterial regrowth, and sequence recovery after four months of storage and 13 lyophilization-rehydration cycles.
- An extensible architecture for physically manageable and regenerative DNA memory was established.
Conclusions:
- The Living Disk-Drive system provides a novel, regenerative approach to DNA data storage.
- This architecture addresses key limitations of current DNA memory technologies, enabling practical, long-term data management.
- The system offers a foundation for future advancements in biological data storage solutions.
