Awarded in 2008
Home Department: Bioengineering
Faculty Advisors: Drew Endy (Bioengineering) and Michele Calos (Genetics)

Research Title: Scaling up synthetic genetically encoded data storage

Research Description: An ability to store modest amounts of information within living systems would enable new approaches to the study and control of biological processes. For example, a simple data storage device functioning as an 8-bit counter which can count and report up to 256 discrete biochemical events (e.g. cell division) is sufficient for tracking and controlling entire cell lineages during the development and aging across most known organisms; however, state-of-the-art genetically encoded data storage devices can reliably handle only a few states. The goal of Ton’s project is to develop a platform for using rewritable site-specific recombination to enable combinatorial data storage architectures on DNA which could help expand storage capacity by orders of magnitudes.

WHERE IS HE NOW?

Pakpoom is an assistant professor at the department of biochemistry, faculty of medical science, at Naresuan University in Thailand.