News Materials Science

Jurassic Park’s amber-preserved dino DNA is now inspiring a way to store data 

Data encoded in DNA can stored and retrieved as needed from a room temperature material

A close-up illustration of a translucent amber-colored rock with a DNA double helix held inside

An amberlike material used to store DNA at room temperature is like polystyrene plastic, with an added molecular weakness that allows scientists to break down and reassemble it as needed.

MIT News; iStock

By Payal Dhar

Sometimes science fiction does inspire science research. À la Jurassic Park’s entombed mosquito, scientists have developed a method to store DNA in an amberlike material and still extract it easily hours later.