以色列理工学院Zohar Yakhini和Leon Anavy研究组，利用复合的DNA碱基通过减少合成周期，优化了DNA存储技术。相关论文2019年9月9日在线发表在《自然—生物技术》上。

研究人员通过对编码和解码方法的优化，利用复合的DNA碱基来探索信息冗余这种现象。复合DNA碱基表示碱基在序列中的位置，由预定比例的四种DNA核苷酸的混合物组成。研究人员的方法使用较少的合成周期编码数据。研究者将6.4 MB编码为复合DNA，具有可区分的组成中位数，与之前的报告相比，每单位数据的合成周期减少20％。研究者还使用较大的、具有可区分的组成十分位数的复合字母表模拟编码，其显示足以能减少75％的合成周期。研究者描述了适用的纠错码和推理方法，并研究了复合DNA碱基背景下的错误模式。

据了解，DNA的密度和长期稳定性使其成为一种吸引人的存储介质，特别是对于长期数据存储。现有的DNA存储技术涉及多个相同的分子的并行合成和测序，导致信息冗余。

附：英文原文

Title: Data storage in DNA with fewer synthesis cycles using composite DNA letters

Author: Leon Anavy, Inbal Vaknin, Orna Atar, Roee Amit, Zohar Yakhini

Issue&Volume: 2019-09-09

Abstract: The density and long-term stability of DNA make it an appealing storage medium, particularly for long-term data archiving. Existing DNA storage technologies involve the synthesis and sequencing of multiple nominally identical molecules in parallel, resulting in information redundancy. We report the development of encoding and decoding methods that exploit this redundancy using composite DNA letters. A composite DNA letter is a representation of a position in a sequence that consists of a mixture of all four DNA nucleotides in a predetermined ratio. Our methods encode data using fewer synthesis cycles. We encode 6.4MB into composite DNA, with distinguishable composition medians, using 20% fewer synthesis cycles per unit of data, as compared to previous reports. We also simulate encoding with larger composite alphabets, with distinguishable composition deciles, to show that 75% fewer synthesis cycles are potentially sufficient. We describe applicable error-correcting codes and inference methods, and investigate error patterns in the context of composite DNA letters. Toward more storage for less synthesis using a six-letter composite DNA alphabet.

DOI: 10.1038/s41587-019-0240-x

Source:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-019-0240-x