Researchers from the University of Washington say they have successfully hacked into a computer using custom strands of DNA for the first time.
Akin to something from the pages of science fiction, the researchers used the life-encoding molecule to attack and take over a computer, using strands of DNA to transmit a computer virus from the biological to the digital realm.
“We designed and created a synthetic DNA strand that contained malicious computer code encoded in the bases of the DNA strand,”
wrote the researchers led by Tadayoshi Kohno and Luis Ceze from the Paul G Allen school of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington.
