3 ms·

> that would make your storage medium a potential biohazard generally no. If you're worried about random DNA being a biohazard there are way worse things to w

> that would make your storage medium a potential biohazard generally no. If you're worried about random DNA being a biohazard there are way worse things to worry about, like how your immune system uses random stretches of biologically primed dna to create antibody diversity. The real reasons why it's terrible is that write speed is atrocious and read speed is bad (on the order of 2-3x that of amazon glacier's robotic tape handlers, with WAY MORE expensive robots, and way more expensive cost to read -- you're bulk polluting rivers in china to make the reagents). The only use case I can think of is deep generational archival (like the svalbard seed bank, but for information). Where cost to store by volume is at a premium, and where you'd like to have many many many copies, and you don't mind the cost to read because you won't be reading it but for every 10 or so years, if even. Store your logs in DNA. You're never going to read them anyways.

asdff 3y ago
Having DNA as a storage medium is the best way to store actual biological data. Currently, we do things like having seedbanks, which need periodic replacing as seeds grow to be nonviable. A library of genomes is a much smaller physical footprint than a seedbank. It doesn't need periodic replacing, provided its not getting bombarded by radiation or anything unusual like that. DNA doesn't even have to be stored frozen; you can freeze dry it and store it at room temp for a very long time before any significant degradation. You can also just have the sequence stored digitally, and synthetically build out the dna molecule as you need it (I think this is still pretty costly though and not that efficient). With the right molecular biological tooling, one could conceivably introduce these genomes into a plant cell line and grow them up in tissue culture, you don't have to for example grow a tree and let it mature and go to seed since plant cells are pluripotent, everything can be done in a lab much faster.
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  > Having DNA as a storage medium is the best way to store actual biological data 100% agreed. I thought that was obvious, was mostly sniping at "DNA based digitalstorage startups", thanks for clarifying for me
K0balt 3y ago
My scenario is based on the idea that someone would write code that generates an “archive” that is biologically active , like a prion or a virus or something else that has dangerous properties outside of its context as a data storage device. Not so much random DNA but very specific, targeted DNA. I mean, DNA storage means you have an advanced, high performance DNA synthesis, copying, and sequencing machine. That’s fine in general, because most people using such a machine have a concept of the risks and responsibilities. But imagine what would happen if we had millions of those machines connected to the internet with unpatched vulnerabilities. It seems like that could have some negative outcomes.
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  Unlikely those sequences would pass checksum Padme meme with checksum

asdff 3y ago

Having DNA as a storage medium is the best way to store actual biological data. Currently, we do things like having seedbanks, which need periodic replacing as seeds grow to be nonviable. A library of genomes is a much smaller physical footprint than a seedbank. It doesn't need periodic replacing, provided its not getting bombarded by radiation or anything unusual like that. DNA doesn't even have to be stored frozen; you can freeze dry it and store it at room temp for a very long time before any significant degradation. You can also just have the sequence stored digitally, and synthetically build out the dna molecule as you need it (I think this is still pretty costly though and not that efficient). With the right molecular biological tooling, one could conceivably introduce these genomes into a plant cell line and grow them up in tissue culture, you don't have to for example grow a tree and let it mature and go to seed since plant cells are pluripotent, everything can be done in a lab much faster.

throwawaymaths 3y ago
> Having DNA as a storage medium is the best way to store actual biological data 100% agreed. I thought that was obvious, was mostly sniping at "DNA based digitalstorage startups", thanks for clarifying for me

K0balt 3y ago

My scenario is based on the idea that someone would write code that generates an “archive” that is biologically active , like a prion or a virus or something else that has dangerous properties outside of its context as a data storage device. Not so much random DNA but very specific, targeted DNA. I mean, DNA storage means you have an advanced, high performance DNA synthesis, copying, and sequencing machine. That’s fine in general, because most people using such a machine have a concept of the risks and responsibilities. But imagine what would happen if we had millions of those machines connected to the internet with unpatched vulnerabilities. It seems like that could have some negative outcomes.

throwawaymaths 3y ago
Unlikely those sequences would pass checksum Padme meme with checksum