Shipman Seth L, Nivala Jeff, Macklis Jeffrey D, Church George M
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Center for Brain Science, and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, Bauer Laboratory 103, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Nature. 2017 Jul 20;547(7663):345-349. doi: 10.1038/nature23017. Epub 2017 Jul 12.
DNA is an excellent medium for archiving data. Recent efforts have illustrated the potential for information storage in DNA using synthesized oligonucleotides assembled in vitro. A relatively unexplored avenue of information storage in DNA is the ability to write information into the genome of a living cell by the addition of nucleotides over time. Using the Cas1-Cas2 integrase, the CRISPR-Cas microbial immune system stores the nucleotide content of invading viruses to confer adaptive immunity. When harnessed, this system has the potential to write arbitrary information into the genome. Here we use the CRISPR-Cas system to encode the pixel values of black and white images and a short movie into the genomes of a population of living bacteria. In doing so, we push the technical limits of this information storage system and optimize strategies to minimize those limitations. We also uncover underlying principles of the CRISPR-Cas adaptation system, including sequence determinants of spacer acquisition that are relevant for understanding both the basic biology of bacterial adaptation and its technological applications. This work demonstrates that this system can capture and stably store practical amounts of real data within the genomes of populations of living cells.
DNA是一种用于存档数据的极佳介质。最近的研究成果表明，利用体外组装的合成寡核苷酸，在DNA中存储信息具有潜力。在DNA中存储信息的一个相对未被充分探索的途径是随着时间的推移通过添加核苷酸将信息写入活细胞的基因组。利用Cas1-Cas2整合酶，CRISPR-Cas微生物免疫系统存储入侵病毒的核苷酸内容以赋予适应性免疫。当加以利用时，该系统有潜力将任意信息写入基因组。在此，我们利用CRISPR-Cas系统将黑白图像和一部短片的像素值编码到一群活细菌的基因组中。通过这样做，我们突破了这个信息存储系统的技术极限，并优化策略以尽量减少这些限制。我们还揭示了CRISPR-Cas适应系统的潜在原理，包括间隔序列获取的序列决定因素，这对于理解细菌适应的基本生物学及其技术应用都具有重要意义。这项工作表明，该系统能够在活细胞群体的基因组中捕获并稳定存储实际数量的真实数据。
