Engineering DNA Materials for Sustainable Data Storage Using a DNA Movable-Type System

DNA molecules are green materials with great potential for high-density and long-term data storage. However, the current data-writing process of DNA data storage via DNA synthesis suffers from high costs and the production of hazards, limiting its practical applications. Here, we developed a DNA movable-type storage system that can utilize DNA fragments pre-produced by cell factories for data writing. In this system, these pre-generated DNA fragments, referred to herein as “DNA movable types,” are used as basic writing units in a repetitive way. The process of data writing is achieved by the rapid assembly of these DNA movable types, thereby avoiding the costly and environmentally hazardous process of de novo DNA synthesis. With this system, we successfully encoded 24 bytes of digital information in DNA and read it back accurately by means of high-throughput sequencing and decoding, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of this system. Through its repetitive usage and biological assembly of DNA movable-type fragments, this system exhibits excellent potential for writing cost reduction, opening up a novel route toward an economical and sustainable digital data-storage technology.