DISCO - DNA based Infrastructure for Storage and COmputation

Throughout evolution, Biology has found an almost-perfect molecule to pass information down through the millennia. Whether, for a simple bacterium or the largest whale, DNA achieves high information density while permitting cellular machinery rapid random access retrieval to decode everything from a single protein to the development of an entire human brain. Humanity’s rapidly growing data storage and computing needs make it tempting to exploit optimised biological molecules and processes, but biology is messy, poorly understood and much more specialised for life than it is for our needs — we propose to use DNA for storage together with a rationally designed, well-characterised and robust molecular computing architecture. Funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) - Europe’s flagship innovation programme to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and game changing innovations - the DISCO project will address the challenge of engineering a programmable and robust DNA storage and computing platform. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.