In the blockbuster movie “Jurassic Park,” the premise was to revive extinct dinosaurs and it was based on the extraction of ancient DNA preserved in natural amber. This fiction captivated millions, and today scientific reality is moving towards an equally impressive achievement: they create synthetic amber for the preservation of DNA. This revolutionary advance promises to preserve genetic material with unprecedented efficiency. In turn, it opens new doors in genetic research, biotechnology and medicine.
Synthetic amber created to preserve DNA
By replicating the preservative properties of natural amber in a laboratory, scientists are developing a tool that could change the course of molecular biology by allowing DNA to be safely and stably preserved for long periods.
MIT scientists have developed an amber-like polymer. This material can store everything from entire genomes to photo and music files. The researchers are not looking to bring dinosaurs back to life. However, they believe that this glassy polymer can safely store DNA sequences. The information encoded in the DNA can be extracted from the polymer without damaging it.
Advantages over current methods
Researchers have created a thermosetting polymer very similar to amber. This innovation is relevant because current methods for storing DNA require sub-zero temperatures. This is energy intensive and not scalable.
The new amber polymer stores DNA at room temperature. It also protects the molecules from damage caused by heat or water. This solution could revolutionize DNA preservation.
When the solution is heated, it turns into a solid glass-like block. This block contains embedded DNA complexes, providing excellent preservation of the genetic material.
T-REX: Innovative preservation method for DNA
The researchers named the new method T-REX, which stands for Thermo-Reinforced Xeropreservation. This process embeds DNA into a polymer network within a few hours. With further optimization, they could reduce the time even further.
To release the DNA, they first add a compound called cysteamine. This compound breaks the bonds in the polystyrene thermoset into smaller fragments. They then use a detergent called SDS to recover the DNA without damaging it.
The method encapsulates DNA of varying lengths, from dozens of nucleotides to an entire human genome, which is more than 50,000 base pairs long. As part of the experiment, the researchers stored DNA encoding Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the MIT logo and the background music from the movie “Jurassic Park.”
After the DNA was stored and extracted, it was sequenced without errors, a key feature for any digital data storage system.
The thermosetting polymer protects DNA at temperatures of up to 75 degrees Celsius. As a next step, the researchers are now looking to speed up the manufacturing of these polymers and shape them into capsules for long-term storage.
