<p>Oligonucleotide synthesis is a <a href="https://www.idtdna.com/pages/products/custom-dna-rna/dna-oligos/custom-dna-oligos?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=ga_oligos&amp;utm_content=ad_group_oligos&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwnIr1BRAWEiwA6GpwNX13eq8hHXX5D8cVVApGc0hzAcsaIEd2c29PYdHrxeFp8B4dpijrlhoC7wgQAvD_BwE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">service offered by many providers such as IDT</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-26T13:13:21.353Z
What is interesting is how [phosphoramidite synthesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligonucleotide_synthesis) differs from how polymerases do it. It is a solid state synthesis approach that expands from the 3' to the 5' in cycles of reaction and 2'-deprotection to allow a single nucleotide to be added at a time.
Matteo Ferla
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-24T22:52:04.203Z
2020-04-24T22:52:04.203Z
Maximilian Press
<p>To add to <a href="https://bioinformatics.stackexchange.com/a/13076/57">@Maximilian Press' answer</a>.</p>

<p>There is quite a lot of research on how to store arbitrary digital data in DNA. Nick Goldman describes his research on the topic in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4PiGWNsIEU" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TEDx talk</a>. The last progress in the field I have noticed was <a href="http://dnafountain.teamerlich.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DNA fountain</a>, a tranformation of bites in DNA with maximal efficiency of data storage in DNA (information / nt) and reliable recovery when sequenced afterwards.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-28T12:47:02.037Z
2020-04-28T12:47:02.037Z
Kamil S Jaron
<p>I'm trying to learn about what the state of technology is at presently.   It seems like we clearly can go from nucleotide to digitally stored sequence, but can we transcribe something from the digital sequence?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-26T17:04:33.517Z
Are you asking about synthetic biology? Can you give a bit more context? The answer is it depends, e.g. one can trivially synthesise short primers but not a whole human genome
Chris_Rands
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-27T21:04:25.993Z
@Chris_Rands, you mean an amount of material required for an insertion is doable, but you can't synthesize a complete gene?  I'm trying to understand the technological state of bio-engineering, and trying to understand the workflow.
J. M. Becker
<fasta><sequence-analysis><phylogenetics>
Is it possible to go from a digital sequence to an actual nucleotide?
# Is it possible to go from a digital sequence to an actual nucleotide?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-24)

I'm trying to learn about what the state of technology is at presently. It seems like we clearly can go from nucleotide to digitally stored sequence, but can we transcribe something from the digital sequence?

**Tags:** fasta, sequence-analysis, phylogenetics
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you asking about synthetic biology? Can you give a bit more context? The answer is it depends, e.g. one can trivially synthesise short primers but not a whole human genome  
> **username_0**: @Chris_Rands, you mean an amount of material required for an insertion is doable, but you can't synthesize a complete gene?  I'm trying to understand the technological state of bio-engineering, and trying to understand the workflow.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-04-24. Score: 3

Oligonucleotide synthesis is a [service offered by many providers such as IDT](https://www.idtdna.com/pages/products/custom-dna-rna/dna-oligos/custom-dna-oligos?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ga_oligos&utm_content=ad_group_oligos&gclid=CjwKCAjwnIr1BRAWEiwA6GpwNX13eq8hHXX5D8cVVApGc0hzAcsaIEd2c29PYdHrxeFp8B4dpijrlhoC7wgQAvD_BwE).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: What is interesting is how [phosphoramidite synthesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligonucleotide_synthesis) differs from how polymerases do it. It is a solid state synthesis approach that expands from the 3' to the 5' in cycles of reaction and 2'-deprotection to allow a single nucleotide to be added at a time.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2020-04-28. Score: 0

To add to [@Maximilian Press' answer](https://bioinformatics.stackexchange.com/a/13076/57).

There is quite a lot of research on how to store arbitrary digital data in DNA. Nick Goldman describes his research on the topic in his [TEDx talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4PiGWNsIEU). The last progress in the field I have noticed was [DNA fountain](http://dnafountain.teamerlich.org/), a tranformation of bites in DNA with maximal efficiency of data storage in DNA (information / nt) and reliable recovery when sequenced afterwards.


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