Optimizing Composite DNA Letters for High-Density Information Encoding

Description

In order to use DNA as a promising medium for routine long-term information storage, large-scale DNA synthesis is required. Photolithographic synthesis featuring modified phosphoramidites with BzNPPOC as the 5′ photolabile protecting group makes this possible on microarrays. To increase the information density stored in the DNA, the usual alphabet of 4 bases is extended by the addition of composite DNA letters, mixtures of the normal bases.
These compound DNA letters consist of two- to four-base mixtures with predefined ratios that are equimolar or non-equimolar so that different mixing ratios of the same bases also contribute to further additions of an extended alphabet. The random coupling of the individual components in the mixtures can be read by sequencing, with the ratio in the reads representing the occurrence of the bases in the mixtures. These specific ratios were generated either by on-the-fly mixing or by manual mixing. The goal is to determine the limits for synthesizing and sequencing these mixtures and to understand the specific requirements for sequence design and mixing ratios, especially with regard to the use of only three or two different phosphoramidites.

Period	19 Jun 2025
Event title	Storage and Computing with DNA
Event type	Conference
Location	Paris, FranceShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International