Re: The emerging science of DNA cryptography

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: March 18, 2009 11:19:49 AM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] The emerging science of DNA cryptography

The emerging science of DNA cryptography
If DNA computing can be used to break codes, then the machinery of  
life can be exploited to encrypt data too
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
<http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23167/>
Molecular biologists have long thought of DNA as an information  
storage device. The body processes this information with an impressive  
array of computing machinery which, since the 1990s, we've exploited  
to carry out a few of our own calculations.

DNA computing may not be fast but it is massively parallel. With the  
right kind of setup, it has the potential to solve huge mathematical  
problems. It's hardly surprising then, that DNA computing represents a  
serious threat to various powerful encryption schemes such as the Data  
Encryption Standard (DES).

But if DNA can be used to break codes then it can also be exploited to  
encrypt data. Various groups have suggested using the sequence of  
nucleotides in DNA (A for 00, C for 01, G for 10, T for 11) for just  
this purpose. One idea is to not even bother encrypting the  
information but simply burying it in the DNA so it is well hidden, a  
technique called DNA steganography.

[snip]
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