Chloé Berton thesis defense

The volume of digital data produced worldwide every year is increasing exponentially, and current storage solutions are reaching their limits. In this context, data storage on DNA molecules holds great promise. Storing up to 10^18  bytes per gram of DNA for almost no energy consumption, it has a lifespan 100 times longer than hard disks.
As this storage technology is still under development, the opportunity presents itself to natively integrate data security mechanisms. This is the aim of this thesis.
Our first contribution is a risk analysis of the entire storage chain, which has enabled us to identify vulnerabilities in digital and biological processes, particularly in terms of confidentiality, integrity, availability and traceability.
A second contribution is the identification of elementary biological operators for simple manipulations of DNA. Using these operators, we have developed a DNACipher encryption solution that requires biomolecular decryption (DNADecipher) of the molecules before the data can be read correctly.
This third contribution, based on enzymes, required the development of a coding algorithm for digital data into DNA sequences, a contribution called DSWE. This algorithm respects the constraints of biological processes (e.g. homopolymers) and our encryption solution.
Our final contribution is an experimental validation of our secure storage chain. This is the first proof of concept showing that it is possible to secure this new storage medium using biomolecular manipulations.