Researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have developed a method for storing digital data using engineered proteins, completing the full process from data storage to retrieval with de novo designed unnatural proteins for the first time.
Key Details
- The interdisciplinary team includes Prof. Zhongping Yao, Dr. Cheuk-chi Ng, and Prof. Chung-Ming Francis Lau.
- The method uses proteins as data carriers, encoding digital bits into amino acid sequences.
- Proteins offer higher storage density and stability compared to DNA and peptides.
- The protein templates were designed based on collagen's sequence pattern for enhanced stability.
- Data-bearing proteins were expressed in E. coli and retrieved using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and algorithm-driven software.
- An error-correction scheme was used to ensure accurate data readout.
Performance and Advantages
- The protein-based method achieved 30 times the storage density at 10% of the cost compared to peptide-based storage.
- Proteins remained readable over long durations, demonstrating superior stability over DNA.
Functionalization
- The team functionalized proteins with affinity tags to enable random access to specific data segments.
- Proteins were also used for data encryption, where messages could only be retrieved using known affinity compounds.
Future Work
- The team aims to achieve mass storage, faster data writing/reading speeds, and reduced protein production costs.
- Plans include designing diverse protein templates for new functionalities.
The research was supported by the Collaborative Research Fund and Research Impact Fund from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.