An easier-to-use technique for storing data in DNA is inspired by our cells

The new method, published in Nature last week, is more efficient, storing 350 bits at a time by encoding strands in parallel. Peking University's Long Qian and team got the idea for such templates from the way cells share the same basic set of genes but behave differently in response to chemical changes in DNA strands. "Every cell in our bodies has the same genome sequence, but genetic programming comes from modifications to DNA. If life can do this, we can do this," she says. Once the bricks are locked into their assigned spots on the strand, researchers select which bricks to methylate, with the presence or absence of the modification standing in for binary values of 0 or 1.