Kellys Morara

Helios Scholar

Current data storage methods face significant challenges and limitations in regard to their capacity, stability, and handling. With rapid increase in the amount of data, there is an urgent need for improved methods of information storage. Long-term data storage using DNA is a potential alternative that can mitigate current data storage limitations, but artificial protection is required to prevent DNA degradation by various environmental factors. The goal of this study is to develop a long-term preservation method for DNA data storage, using an end-to-end programmable write-to-store-to-read cycle for data DNA. We developed a biomimetic mineralized bone matrix structure to enhance preservation of DNA from various factors. The morphology and roughness of matrix structure was characterized by AFM and DNA adsorption/desorption was analyzed using florescent microscope. Effects of temperature and UV on the synthesized bone matrix were investigated by fragmentation and oxidative damage studies. Our preliminary results showed that DNA sample stored in and recovered from in this biomimetic mineralized bone matrix maintained its structure during the adsorption/desorption process, demonstrateing that the biomimetic mineralized bone matrix could be used as a rewritable and efficient support for DNA data preservation without any data decay.