TEMPLATING LIFE: DNA as Nature’s Hard Drive

DNA is being touted as the newest and most promising storage technology, especially for fixed, long-term storage. While there have already been many successful experiments encoding/decoding data onto DNA (such as moving images, software, text and computer viruses), little reflection has been done on this kind of innovation in relation to DNA’s colonial legacy: its linking of race and genetics, forensic anthropology, DNA profiling, tracking migrational history, and so on. As such, my contribution to Public is in exploring the promise of DNA as a medium for data storage by complicating and questioning its potential as a site for ongoing conquest and/or decolonization.