Because DNA is digital, it is a reliable way to store and copy information. Indeed, it can be copied again and again with tremendous accuracy, no different in principle from digital information stored in computer memory or on a DVD. DNA is also robust. When I first worked in a lab, I was shocked by how this “molecule of life” could survive for hours in boiling water and thrilled that it was recoverable from Neanderthal remains at least 40,000 years old.23 The advantages of digital storage explain why chains of nucleic acids have remained the go-to biological storage molecule for the past 4
...more
