• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Friday, August 12, 2022
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

‘Pulling back the curtain’ to reveal a molecular key to The Wizard of Oz

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
July 20, 2022
in Science News
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Many people and companies worry about sensitive data getting hacked, so encrypting files with digital keys has become more commonplace. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed a durable molecular encryption key from sequence-defined polymers that are built and deconstructed in a sequential way. They hid their molecular key in the ink of a letter, which was mailed and then used to decrypt a file with text from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 

‘Pulling back the curtain’ to reveal a molecular key to The Wizard of Oz

Credit: Adapted from ACS Central Science 2022, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.2c00460.

Many people and companies worry about sensitive data getting hacked, so encrypting files with digital keys has become more commonplace. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed a durable molecular encryption key from sequence-defined polymers that are built and deconstructed in a sequential way. They hid their molecular key in the ink of a letter, which was mailed and then used to decrypt a file with text from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 

Securely sharing data relies on encryption algorithms that jumble up the information and only reveal it when the correct code or digital encryption key is used. Researchers have been developing molecular strategies, including DNA chains and polymers, to durably store and transport encryption keys. Currently, nucleic acids store more information than polymers. The challenge with polymers is that when they get too long, storing more data with each additional monomer becomes less efficient, and figuring out the information they’re hiding with analytical instruments becomes extremely difficult. Recently, Eric Anslyn and colleagues developed a method to deconstruct polymers in a sequential way, allowing their structures to be determined more easily with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS). So, Anslyn, James Ruether and others wanted to test the method on a mixture of unique polymers hidden in ink to see if the approach could be used to reveal a complex molecular encryption key.

First, the researchers generated a 256-character-long binary key that could encrypt and decrypt text files when entered into an algorithm. Next, they encoded the key into polymer sequences of eight 10-monomer-long oligourethanes. Only the middle eight monomers held the key, and the two ends acted as placeholders for synthesis and decoding. The decoding placeholder was a unique, isotopically labeled “fingerprint” monomer in each sequence, indicating where each polymer’s encoded information fit in the order of the final digital key. Then the researchers mixed the eight polymers together and used a sequential depolymerization method and LC/MS to determine the original structures and the digital key. Finally, one group of the researchers combined the polymers with isopropanol, glycerol and soot to make an ink, which they used to write a letter that they mailed to other colleagues, who didn’t know the encoded information. These scientists extracted the ink from the paper and followed the same sequential analysis to successfully reconstruct the binary key. They entered the encryption key into the algorithm, revealing a plain text file of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The researchers say that their results demonstrate that molecular information encryption with sequence-defined polymer mixtures is durable enough for real-world applications, such as hiding secret messages in letters and plastic objects.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Army Research Office, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Keck Foundation and the Welch Reagents Chair.

The paper’s abstract will be available on July 20 at 8 a.m. Eastern time here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/10.1021/acscentsci.2c00460.

For more of the latest research news, register for our upcoming meeting, ACS Fall 2022. Journalists and public information officers are encouraged to apply for complimentary press registration by completing this form.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact [email protected]

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram



Journal

ACS Central Science

DOI

10.1021/acscentsci.2c00460

Article Title

Molecular Encryption and Steganography Using Mixtures of Simultaneously Sequenced, Sequence-Defined Oligourethanes

Article Publication Date

20-Jul-2022

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Psyllids

Cousin of crop-killing bacteria mutating rapidly

August 12, 2022
A warm Neptune around a hot, blue star

Brightest stars in the night sky can strip Neptune-sized planets to their rocky cores

August 12, 2022

Smart contact lenses for cancer diagnostics and screening

August 11, 2022

Social media helps scientists monitor rarely sighted whales

August 11, 2022

POPULAR NEWS

  • Picture of the horse specimen.

    Ancient DNA clarifies the early history of American colonial horses

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • Fatigue, headache among top lingering symptoms months after COVID

    40 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Ill-fated ‘Into the Wild’ adventurer was victim of unfortunate timing, Oregon State study suggests

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Skin: An additional tool for the versatile elephant trunk

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Urogenital SystemUniversity of WashingtonVaccinesWeaponryVirusVehiclesWeather/StormsVirologyUrbanizationVaccineViolence/CriminalsZoology/Veterinary Science

Recent Posts

  • Cousin of crop-killing bacteria mutating rapidly
  • Brightest stars in the night sky can strip Neptune-sized planets to their rocky cores
  • Smart contact lenses for cancer diagnostics and screening
  • Social media helps scientists monitor rarely sighted whales
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In