Synthetic nucleic acids for information storage and transmission

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11854669-B1
Application number	US-201916512577-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 16, 2019
Priority date	Jul 30, 2018
Publication date	Dec 26, 2023
Grant date	Dec 26, 2023

Abstract

The present invention relates to method for storing and transmitting information by employing a nucleic acid construct. The nucleic acid construct can include a lock region; a translation key region that corresponds to the identity of a key; and a message region including a nucleic sequence that corresponds to an encrypted message.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for storing and transmitting information, the method comprising:
converting each character in an information format into a triplet or quadruplet codon by employing a key, thereby generating an encrypted message represented by a nucleic acid or a complement thereof;
synthesizing a nucleic acid construct comprising a lock region comprising a nucleic acid sequence with a primer binding region or a complement thereof, a translation key region comprising a nucleic acid sequence that corresponds to an identity of the key or a complement thereof, and a message region having a nucleic acid sequence comprising the encrypted message or a complement thereof;
relaying the nucleic acid sequence of the lock region to a recipient and the key corresponding to the translation key region; and
placing the nucleic acid construct on an object to be transmitted to the recipient;
wherein the synthesizing step further comprises:
inserting a start codon indicating the beginning of the message region, and
inserting a stop codon indicating the end of the message region.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synthesizing step further comprises:
sectioning the nucleic acid construct, or a complement thereof, into a plurality of sections; and
assembling each section by employing one or more of an exonuclease, a polymerase, and/or a ligase.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synthesizing step further comprises:
inserting the nucleic acid construct into a vector; and
expressing the vector.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
degrading the nucleic acid construct by employing a nuclease.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
amplifying the nucleic acid construct by employing a polymerise, thereby generating a plurality of constructs.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining the nucleic acid sequence of at least one of the plurality of constructs.

7. A nucleic acid construct comprising:
a lock region comprising a first primer binding region or a complement thereof;
a translation key region comprising a nucleic acid sequence that corresponds to an identity of a key or a complement thereof;
a message region comprising a nucleic acid sequence that corresponds to an encrypted message, wherein the encrypted message comprises an information format having each character that is converted into a triplet or quadruplet codon by employing the key, or a complement thereof,
a start region comprising a start codon, wherein the start region is in proximity to a 5′ end of the message region; and
a stop region comprising a stop codon, wherein the stop region is in proximity to a 3′ end of the message region,
wherein the key provides the identity of the start codon and the stop codon;
wherein the translation key region is disposed between the lock region and the message region.

8. The construct of claim 7 , wherein the message region comprises a buffered message region comprising a nucleic acid sequence that interrupts the information format.

9. The construct of claim 8 , further comprising:
a first leader region comprising a second primer binding region, wherein the leader region is in proximity to the 5′ end of the construct;
an optional second leader region comprising a third primer binding region, wherein the second leader region is disposed between the translation key region and the message region; and
a trailer region comprising a fourth primer binding region, wherein the trailer region is in proximity to the 3′ end of the construct.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein each character is one of an alphanumeric character, a symbol, a punctuation mark, and a space.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information format comprises a text, an image, or a matrix.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key comprises a different codon corresponding to a different character, and wherein the different codon comprises three nucleotides.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the converting step comprises:
sectioning the information format into a plurality of sections; and
converting each character in each section with a different key, wherein each key comprises a different codon corresponding to a different character.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the translation key region comprises a nucleic acid sequence that corresponds to the identity of each of the different keys.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the converting step further comprises:
inserting one or more buffer regions in the encrypted message or a complement thereof, wherein each buffer region comprises a nucleic acid sequence that interrupts the information format, thereby generating a buffered, encrypted message represented by a plurality of nucleotides.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lock region comprises of from about 15 to about 35 nucleotides.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the translation key region comprises of from about 15 to about 35 nucleotides.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid construct comprises a single-stranded sequence or a double-stranded sequence.

19. The construct of claim 7 , wherein the key comprises a different codon corresponding to a different character.

20. The construct of claim 7 , wherein each character is one of an alphanumeric character, a symbol, a punctuation mark, and a space.

Assignees

• Nat Tech & Eng Solutions Sandia Llc

Inventors

• Bachand George
• Bachand Marlene
• Gomez Andrew

Classifications

• G16B50/40 Primary

  Encryption of genetic data · CPC title

• H04L9/0866

  involving user or device identifiers, e.g. serial number, physical or biometrical information, DNA, hand-signature or measurable physical characteristics · CPC title

• H04L9/0894

  Escrow, recovery or storing of secret information, e.g. secret key escrow or cryptographic key storage · CPC title