Purple Drop: Building a DNA Computing and Storage Platform

Co-Mentors: Professor Mayuresh Kothare, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Professor Mark Arnold, Computer Science and Engineering

Project Description:

Can DNA be the next revolution in computing and data storage?

Creating a lab-on-a-chip system that uses open-source software and hardware to manipulate droplets of water containing DNA to process binary information like an electronic computer, but with much higher data density. By sequencing the movement, heating, and cooling of the droplets on a platform called "Purple Drop," we hope to precisely control the hybridization of the DNA strands and process information in the form of bits.