DNA as data storage system

The New York Times (Dec. 3) -- In two recent experiments, a team of computer scientists at the University of Washington and Microsoft, and a separate group at the University of Illinois, have shown that DNA molecules can be the basis for an archival storage system potentially capable of storing all of the world’s digital information in roughly nine liters of solution -- about the amount of liquid in a case of wine. The Illinois scientists--including faculty researchers Jian Ma (BioE), Huimin Zhao (ChemE), and Olgica Milenkovic (ECE)--were able to encode parts of the Wikipedia pages of six universities, and then select and edit parts of the text written in DNA corresponding to three of the colleges. CS alumni Luis Ceze and Karin Strauss were researchers on this project. Also: Houston Chronicle (from NY Times, Dec. 3).