Sci-fi becomes reality as DNA is turned into 'living hard drive' able to store and erase data

• Sections of living DNA glow red or green to store computer data
• Could be used like computers inside the body
• DNA storage can be written, rewritten and erased at will
• 'Took us three years and 750 attempts,' says lead researcher

The idea of storing information in living cells has been the plot of sci-fi fantasies such as Johnny Mnemonic, starring Keanu Reeves - and today it has become reality

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction fantasies, but scientists have turned living cells into data storage devices - like 'living hard drives'.

The idea of storing computer information inside living cells - or human brains - has formed the plot of sci fi thrillers such as Johnny Mnemonic (pictured).

But in reality, the cells are likely to become a method for retrieving information from inside the human body.

The information - stored in the DNA code - can be rewritten and erased at will, so could be used to study ageing cells, and even 'turn off' cells before they turn cancerous.

The cells would be like tiny computers that can 'live' with the body - and could be an incredibly important tool for both computing and medicine.

‘It took us three years and 750 tries to make it work, but we finally did it,’ said Jerome Bonnet, PhD, of his latest research, a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells.

Bonnet, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, worked with graduate student Pakpoom Subsoontorn and assistant professor Drew Endy, PhD, to reapply natural enzymes adapted from bacteria to flip specific sequences of DNA back and forth at will.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2148201/Sci-fi-reality-DNA-turned-living-drive-able-store-read-erase-data.html