DNA Storage Metadata Blockchain Deduplication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current DNA storage technologies face high costs, slow access times, and lack effective encryption and deduplication methods, making them inefficient for real-time data storage and vulnerable to malicious tampering.
Innovation Solution
The use of blockchain technology for decentralized, immutable storage of metadata and smart contracts for similarity-based deduplication reduces the number of nucleotides required for data representation, enhances random access, and ensures data integrity by storing metadata in a blockchain, thereby reducing storage costs and eliminating single points of failure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If DNA storage is used to achieve high storage density, then storage capacity is improved, but storage cost per base pair remains high at USD $0.07
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into discrete blocks that are individually hashed and stored in blockchain structures. Each DNA sequence is divided into manageable chunks with unique identifiers, allowing selective storage and retrieval. This segmentation enables efficient deduplication where identical data blocks reference the same DNA sequence, reducing overall storage requirements and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates cryptographic hash copies of data blocks and stores these hashes in blockchain metadata rather than storing complete data copies. The actual DNA sequences are stored once and referenced multiple times through hash links. This copying approach reduces nucleotide material requirements while maintaining data integrity verification capabilities.
2Reliability
If traditional DNA-based storage is used, then data can be stored, but there are single points of failure and vulnerability to malicious tampering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces blockchain as an intermediary layer between data and DNA storage. The blockchain metadata structure acts as a mediator that verifies data integrity through cryptographic hashes before DNA synthesis and after sequencing. This intermediary layer eliminates single points of failure by distributing verification across multiple blockchain nodes and preventing malicious tampering through immutable hash chains.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where blockchain metadata continuously verifies DNA sequence integrity through hash comparison. After DNA synthesis and sequencing, the retrieved sequences are hashed and compared against stored blockchain hashes to detect any tampering. This feedback loop ensures data reliability and alerts system operators to potential corruption or malicious modification.
3Quantity of substance
If DNA storage is implemented without deduplication, then all data is stored in full, but the amount of nucleotide material required is excessive increasing cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary deduplication by computing cryptographic hashes of data blocks before DNA synthesis. The blockchain metadata structure pre-identifies duplicate data blocks and creates reference links to existing DNA sequences. This preliminary action prevents unnecessary DNA synthesis of duplicate data, reducing nucleotide material consumption and storage cost while maintaining complete data recoverability.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments for storing digital data in DNA storage by receiving input file data, encoding the input file data into an oligonucleotide sequence to produce sequence data through a transformation of text to binary to Base_3 encoding, organizing the Base_3 sequence data into chunks of a defined chunk size, and storing the chunks in a block of a blockchain. The oligonucleotide sequence may comprise metadata for the input file data that refers to actual data stored in the DNA storage, where the actual data is formed by synthesizing the oligonucleotide sequence in a DNA synthesis process. The chunks may be stored in the blockchain only if the block agrees with a smart contract defined for the oligonucleotide sequence.