My Journey Through Synthetic Biology

If someone told you that the entire internet could fit inside a shoebox, you’d probably laugh at them. But for synthetic biology, it might be possible. Not by shrinking hard drives, but by storing information in something far more powerful: DNA. For billions of years, DNA has been the most efficient, durable, compact storage system on Earth. Every plant, animal, and bacterium uses it to store life’s code. And now, scientists are learning how to use it to store our code. Why DNA Beats Every Storage Device We’ve Ever Built Traditional data storage, like our phones, tablets, and computers, all face the same problems: They take up space, break easily, and decay after a few decades. DNA has none of those weaknesses. Here are some more facts: 1. Density: DNA can store 1 million times more data per gram than a modern hard drive. For example, a single gram could hold over 200 million gigabytes. 2. Durability: DNA can last hundreds of thousands of years, while our digital files last maybe 20–...

Hey everyone! First of all, I wanted to say sorry. I know I’ve been absent for the last few weeks. School started picking up, and I ran out of time to do my daily Sunday blog series. But I’m back today, and it is going to be a big one. I hope you enjoy.  Today’s topic is the immune system. Did you know that your immune system is one of the most powerful machines evolution has ever built? Through time, we have learned that this system can understand, remember, and defend you against millions of threats. And the best part? It can do all of it without you noticing. But what if it could do more than just protect? What if there were a way so that we could program it? Synthetic biology is beginning to rewrite how immunity works, turning it from a reactive system into a programmable network that can detect almost anything. The goal isn’t to build a new immune system. It’s to make our own smarter. The Immune System as Code At its core, the immune system works like biological software. It ...