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DIGITAL SIGNATURES TO ENSURE THE AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF SYNTHETIC DNA MOLECULESDNA molecules are increasingly being synthesized in the laboratory some of which are licensed intellectual properties (IP). Synthetic samples are shared between academic labs, ordered from DNA synthesis companies, and manipulated for a variety of different purposes, mostly to study their properties and improve upon them. However, it is not uncommon for a sample to change hands many times with very little proof of origin information encoded in the sample. This poses significant challenges to the original inventor of the DNA molecules, trying to protect her IP rights.More importantly, following the anthrax attacks of 2001, there is an increased urgency to employ microbial forensic technologies to trace and track agent inventories. However, in the realm of synthesized DNA such attribution is next to impossible with existing technology. We look into how a digital signature of the DNA molecule can be embedded into the molecule itself to solve this problem (if at all). We encounter several challenges that we do not face in the digital world. These challenges arise primarily from the fact that the physical size of the DNA molecule can affect its properties, random mutations can accumulate in the DNA samples over time, DNA sequencers can sequence (read) DNA erroneously and is still relatively expensive (which means that laboratories would prefer not to read and re-read a DNA to get error-free sequences).In this research, we try to address these challenges and present a digital signature technology that can be applied to synthetic DNA molecules in living cells.ii

The field of synthetic biology relies on an evergrowing supply chain of synthetic genetic material. Technologies to secure the exchange of this material are still in their infancy. Solutions proposed thus far have focused on watermarks, a dated security approach that can be used to claim authorship, but is subject to counterfeit, and does not provide any information about the integrity of the genetic material itself. In this manuscript, we describe how data encryption and digital signature algorithms can be used to ensure the integrity and authenticity of synthetic genetic constructs. Using a pilot software that generates digital signatures and other encrypted data for plasmids, we demonstrate that we can predictably extract information about the author, the identity, the integrity of plasmid sequences, and even annotations from sequencing data alone without a reference sequence, all without compromising the function of the plasmids. Encoding a digital signature into a DNA molecule provides an avenue for genetic designers to claim authorship of DNA molecules. This technology could help compliance with material transfer agreements and other licensing agreements.

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