Is DNA the future of data storage? - Leo Bear-McGuinness

翻译人员: Jiawen Wei 校对人员: Jiasi Hao

“科学与生活无法且不应分割。” ——罗莎琳·富兰克林

Let's say there's a disaster that sends humanity back to the Stone Age.

假如有一天，灾难使得 人类文明倒退回了石器时代。

Can our knowledge and history survive?

我们的知识和历史能否得以保存？

The printed page will decompose.

印刷的纸张会分解。

Hard drive storage will deteriorate.

电脑硬盘的存储会退化。

Even stones will eventually crumble.

甚至连石头最终也会碎裂。

But we might have something inside us that can outlast these physical limitations:

但是也许我们体内有些东西 能超越这些物理的极限：

deoxyribonucleic acid.

脱氧核糖核酸 (DNA)。

DNA already stores our biological information.

DNA 已经存储了我们的生物信息。

From eye color to skin tone, it programs our entire bodies.

从眼球颜色到肤色， 它通过编码构造了我们整个身体。

DNA is made of four organic bases:

DNA 是由四种碱基组成的：

adenine,

腺嘌呤 (A)、

guanine,

鸟嘌呤 (G)、

cytosine,

胞嘧啶 (C)、

and thymine,

以及胸腺嘧啶 (T)，

or A, G, C, and T.

或简略地用A、G、C和T表示。

The specific sequence of these bases into groups of three, known as codons,

这些碱基每三个为一组 形成的序列，称为密码子。

gives our cells instructions to make each of the proteins in our bodies.

这些密码子会指引细胞

以形成体内各种蛋白质。

But this code can be used for other things, too,

但是这种编码也可做他用，

like secret messages.

比如编写秘密信息。

In 1999, scientists in New York created an alphabet

1999 年，纽约科学家 创建了一个字母表，

in which each of the 64 possible DNA codons

这个字母表包含了 64 种可能的 DNA 密码子，

substituted for a specific letter, number, or grammar symbol.

每个密码子都代表 一个特定字母、数字或语法符号。

They spliced a 22-character message into a long strand of DNA

他们根据这个字母表， 将一段 22 个字符的信息

转译成一段长的 DNA 链，

and surrounded it with specific genetic markers.

并且在周围加上特定的基因标记。

They then hid the DNA over a period in a type-written letter

他们将这段 DNA 隐藏 在一封打印信件的一个句号上，

with only a small smudge to give the location away.

仅仅使用了一个小污渍 来提示这段信息的位置，

They mailed the letter back to themselves.

并将这封信件寄回自己。

Then they examined the letter looking for the DNA strand.

再次收到信件， 他们检查了这封信件来寻找那段 DNA 链。

Once the DNA strand was located, they found the genetic markers.

他们找到了 DNA 链，

也找到了基因标记。

Then, they sequenced the DNA and successfully decoded the message.

而后，他们将这段 DNA 排序

并且成功地破译了这段信息。

It soon became obvious that DNA cryptography

很快，科学家发现 DNA 编码

could code for much more than simple text.

不仅限于编译简单的文本：

By translating the 1's and 0's of binary code into DNA codons,

通过将二进制的 1 和 0 翻译成 DNA 密码子，

digital data could be programmed into synthetic DNA,

我们可以将数码信息 编译进人工合成的 DNA，

then decoded back into its original form.

然后再将它们解码到原来的形式。

In 2012, UK scientists encoded 739 kilobytes of computer files

2012 年，英国科学家将 739KB 的电脑文件

into DNA strands,

编译入 DNA 链，

including all 154 Shakespeare sonnets

其中包括

莎士比亚所有的十四行诗 (154 首)

and an excerpt from Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

以及一段节选 摘自马丁·路德·金“我有一个梦想”的演讲。

And four years later, researchers at Microsoft and the University of Washington

四年之后，来自微软和华盛顿大学的研究者

broke that record.

打破了这项纪录。

They used binary coding to capture a whopping 200 megabytes of data,

他们将 200MB 由二进制编码译制的数据：

including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

包括“世界人权宣言”

and a high-def OK Go music video,

和一部高清的OK Go乐团的音乐录像，

all in strings of DNA.

全部编入了 DNA 序列中。

As far as storage capacity goes,

随着存储空间的增大，

DNA stands out because of the surprising amount of information it can hold

DNA 因其特点 “极小存储空间，惊人信息存量”

in so little space.

而越发受到关注。

The current theoretical limit of DNA'S storage capacity is so high

现今 DNA 存储空间的极限，理论上

that you could fit 100 million HD movies on a pencil eraser.

可以达到将 1 亿部高清电影 存储到一块橡皮大小的空间。

It's even conceivable that one day we could fit all of the information

甚至可以想象有一天， 我们能将所有

currently on the Internet

当今网络上的信息，

into the space of a shoe box.

存入一个鞋盒大小的空间中。

Also, computers and the magnetic tape and discs that their information is stored on

而且，那些存储 在电脑，磁带和光碟中的信息

only last for a few decades, at most, before degrading and becoming unreliable.

在降解且变得不可靠之前， 最多仅仅能维持几十年。

Meanwhile, DNA has a half-life of 500 years,

与此同时， DNA 的半衰期高达 500 年，

meaning that's how long it takes for half of its bonds to break.

这意味着 DNA 要经过 500 年， 其中一半的连接才会断裂。

And if left in a cold and dark environment,

而如果保存在冰冷和阴暗的环境中，

DNA could potentially last for hundreds of thousands of years.

DNA 有可能维持几十万年。

And if that isn't long enough,

如果这还不够持久，

scientists experimented with having synthetic DNA auto-reproduce.

科学家们还进行了 人工合成 DNA 的自动复制实验。

After creating their own strands of DNA

他们合成了自己的 DNA 链，

that spelled out the lyrics to the children's song "It's a Small World,"

包含了儿童歌曲 “这是一个小小的世界”的歌词信息，

they placed them into the genome of a microbe nicknamed Conan the Bacterium.

并且将这段 DNA 链

放入了一个昵称为柯南细菌的 微生物的基因中。

Conan belongs to a species which can survive in a vacuum,

柯南细菌是一种能够在真空，

or without water, for six years,

或在无水环境中生存六年；

or come out unscathed after being exposed to a dose of radiation

或暴露在高于致命辐射剂量 1000 倍的环境中，

1,000 times that which would kill a human.

仍能毫发无损的物种。

According to the experiment,

根据这个实验结果，

the bacterium was able to reproduce at least 100 generations without data loss.

这个细菌能至少复制 100 代

而无任何数据丢失。

Theoretically, if the organism had redundant copies of the information

理论上来说， 如果生物体留有多余的拷贝信息，

that could be used to automatically correct mistakes,

这些信息能被主动用来 进行自我修复错误，

the information could stay preserved even longer.

而这段信息 也因此能被保存更长时间。

So one day, you might be able to create a living, growing, knowledge archive

所以有一天， 你也许能在自己的后院“种”一个

in your own backyard,

鲜活的，发展的知识库。

and its seeds might carry your family's history,

它的种子可能将携带你的家族史，

a detailed breakdown of the world's political upheavals,

世界政治动荡的详解，

or the sum of humanity's knowledge into forests and across continents.

或是深入丛林，横跨大陆的 人类全部知识，

Perhaps even into the far reaches of space.

甚至触及宇宙深处。

Though we might one day disappear, perhaps our legacy can still live on,

尽管有一天我们会消失， 但或许我们的知识遗产将得以传承，

if anyone would think to find it.

若任何人有意探寻。