Preserving written information and DNA

[lajoswinkler]

Here's the thing - one of the oldest banks in my country has opened its vault for people to deposit stuff for free. The vault will be opened in 100 years, and the closest relatives will get the stuff.

I want my descendants to get my firsthand account of what was happening in 2014, my fingerprints, various data about body, and a sample containing my DNA, which might help them one day if they inherit some disease, or just wanted to know stuff.

The problem is that each person is allowed to save only one item and one digital photograph the bank will print out and save.

My idea is to assemble several objects and seal it in glass. However, numerous problems arise. The information must not degrade. That's where I need your suggestions.

Any digital data storage is useless. Not only commercial storage units will probably degrade in a century, but there probably won't be anything able to read it in 2114. I'm not just talking about the hardware. The software will be lost. JPG won't mean a thing, just like obscure digital technology and protocols from Apollo era are now useless, and that was less than 50 years ago. Maybe there will be few knowledgeable people on the planet, working in various institutes, who will be able to decypher the binary code, but I want the stuff to be readily accessible.

So far, acid free paper and a higher grade graphite pencil for writing a letter seem like the best idea for preserving written information in a small space. Ink is longlasting, but graphite is forever. In order to kill every trace of life potentially detrimental to the paper, I'd include a crystal of naphthalene into the container. It will fill the space with pH neutral, but biocidal fumes.

What about DNA? Liquid anr wet samples won't work if they aren't buffered, cryo-protected and kept at -80°C or lower because of the chemical reactions which are too fast. If a sample is to be kept at room temperature in sealed environment (ampoule within an ampoule, to avoid naphthalene fumes), it needs to be solid.

Follicles from scalp, eyebrows, nails?

Think about it. I've got few days to do this before the vault is sealed.

[ZedNova]

I'd put in a video recorder full of footage of your daily life and showing what the world was like in 2014. Sure you'd have to exclude batteries, but if you left a piece of paper with instructions in various languages on how to get it to work it might be doable.

Assuming there's no radiation bursts or insane temperatures that wipe the flash memory, it should be okay. ( I think, i'm no expert )

[lajoswinkler]

It will not hold that long. Flash memory will degrade in less than 50 years (probably less than 20, though) and any video recorder, whether it's digital or VHS, would rust or at least the polymers in PCBs would degrade and crumple.

[Tommygun]

Would Microfilm/Microfiche work for this?

It is supposed to last over five hundred years and a number of archive centers use it and will probably continue using it.

It is low tech enough that you can use a micro scope to view it if Microfilm viewers are hard to find.

You might even get by with an inspection lens and a flash light to read it.

https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/6.-reformatting/6.1-microfilm-and-microfiche

Edited September 3, 2014 by Tommygun

[KerikBalm]

You could extract and ethanol percipitate the DNA.

I thought this would be a thread about hiding written messages in DNA code...

[lajoswinkler]

Tommygun, I don't have the time (or the money, to be honest) to create a microform of any kind, but yes, that would be a way to store lots of information and the lifetime of such storage would be sufficient.

KerikBalm, too complicated if one wants to do it properly. Also, hydrolysis would ruin it in less than a month.

[rtxoff]

For the data just use an old school booklet and write it down with black ink, have no idea about the DNA though.

Edit: Maybe somehow artificially create an amber with your DNA embedded?

Edited September 3, 2014 by gpisic

[lajoswinkler]

It would have to be an acid-free booklet, and I think those are hard to find and expensive. Also, you can't seal that in glass to protect it from moisture, organisms and being read, after all.

Polymer embedding would have to be done by chemical process or melting and either one would alter DNA molecule. I think I'll pluck few eyebrows and put them in a separate, inner vial. Hair follicles seem to be excellent at preserving genetic information.

If anyone has suggestions what else to include in the vault, I'm listening.

[Kryten]

Get some cheap stamps, lick a bunch, attach to piece of high-quality paper or parchment. Bam, instant gene vault.

[Heimdall5008]

100 years is not that long. It my be an eternity for all digital technology, but for paper this should be no real problem as you pointed out. I have some books that are about 150 years old, although they were stored less than ideal conditions on the attic of my grandparents all are perfect readable, only the paper is a bit yellow.

I also think hairs would be the best carrier of DNA.

But how will you seal your glass? I think this will be a really interessting. Any rubber seal will not hold.

[lajoswinkler]

I might include some stamps just because they will be highly valuable in 2114.

I'll seal the glass with glass.

[Tommygun]

Lajoswinkler, if you need acid free paper or note book, try going to an art store.

They shouldn't be much more expensive than a good artist sketch book. Especially if it's a small note book.

I have even made a few small books from archival grade paper, glue and string. It's something you could do in one or two evens work if you need a non standard size.

[Tarrow]

What about DNA? Liquid anr wet samples won't work if they aren't buffered, cryo-protected and kept at -80°C or lower because of the chemical reactions which are too fast. If a sample is to be kept at room temperature in sealed environment (ampoule within an ampoule, to avoid naphthalene fumes), it needs to be solid.

Follicles from scalp, eyebrows, nails?

Don't suppose you've still got a baby tooth kicking around from when you were a kid? When I was a lab monkey teeth used to be our number one source of DNA when there was no soft tissue left to work with. Even untreated a tooth would probably survive anything up to and including the destruction of the facility it was stored in. Seal it in epoxy and it'll last nearly forever.

Another option would be a small ampoule of dried out blood, stored in an inert gas atmosphere. Again, barring any sort of major contamination, you'd easily be able to pull DNA out of it after a century.

[lajoswinkler]

I went to an art store and they just stared at me blindly like I was asking for pancakes made of iron.

Tooth, that was one of the ideas I had... I do have a wisdom tooth already sealed in 70% ethanol, and I do have plenty of my baby tooths somewhere.

[vger]

I went to an art store and they just stared at me blindly like I was asking for pancakes made of iron.

For acid-free paper? Seriously?

Try the scrap-booking section. Acid-free is often a major selling point among those who manufacture scrap-book materials. I don't know about mom & pop stores, but Michaels and AC Moore both have extensive scrap-book supplies.

[PakledHostage]

I don't know about mom & pop stores, but Michaels and AC Moore both have extensive scrap-book supplies.

Trouble is that they probably don't have Michaels or AC Moore in the Balkans...

[lajoswinkler]

We don't, lol.

I distinctly remember we had more than one properly supplied shop in my town, but now I can't find anything. I don't understand, it's a stupid archival paper, it was available just like ordinary ink or whatever.

I'll probably have to make something on my own. Regular printer paper soaked with a mild solution of sodium hydrogencarbonate and then dried. That is plenty of mild base for at least 500 years of gradual acid neutralization. It will look rough, but who cares?

[KerikBalm]

Tommygun, I don't have the time (or the money, to be honest) to create a microform of any kind, but yes, that would be a way to store lots of information and the lifetime of such storage would be sufficient.

KerikBalm, too complicated if one wants to do it properly. Also, hydrolysis would ruin it in less than a month.

Huh, why would it be ruined in a month, dried DNA pellets last much much longer than a month.

Ethanol preciptations are just about always followed by removing the ethanol and drying the pellet.

[lajoswinkler]

I've sent the capsule. Microliter of venuous blood protected by two sealed glass barriers and plucked eyebrows will be enough. The letter is bicarbonate treated paper, sealed with wax stamp.

See you in the future.

[PakledHostage]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride. I hope you thought to include the URL to this thread in your letter? Just for ....s and giggles... I have found archived copies of some of my old Usenet posts over the years. If inane Usenet posts are still recoverable 20-25 years later using a simple Google search, I see no reason why some of this crap enlightened discussion won't be recoverable 100 years from now.

[Technical Ben]

Binary etched onto some metal? With some written text in between each line, just in case they cannot read binary.

[lajoswinkler]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride. I hope you thought to include the URL to this thread in your letter? Just for ....s and giggles... I have found archived copies of some of my old Usenet posts over the years. If inane Usenet posts are still recoverable 20-25 years later using a simple Google search, I see no reason why some of this crap enlightened discussion won't be recoverable 100 years from now.

I don't know, I think all this will probably be lost forever after less than 30 years. I can't even imagine the state of the Internet after 100 years. It's completely unimaginable, brave new world. Just look the progress in the last 10 years, and the speed of it is increasing every year.

[Tommygun]

That's true, as I have read that most time capsules get lost and are never opened.

Then again they might end up cloning you a hundred years from now.

[Dispatcher]

This site is of interest to people who are into genealogy; they would know about preserving or archiving information: also how to utilize less-than-pristine resources.

http://www.cyndislist.com

Well, your idea of preserving your DNA might be a good option; the archival paper is also a very good idea.