Before you ask, SPAM neither refers to the military rations served in Vietnam nor does it apply to the questionable business proposals you receive in your inbox. Instead, it's an acronym for 'steganography by printed arrays of microbes,' a procedure that allows two people to clandestinely communicate using bacteria!
Researchers at Tufts University have perfected a novel way to relay and exchange information using a florescent strain of E. coli. These intestinal flora contain enough color variation to program for all 26 alphabet characters, the numbers 0 through 9 as well as a handful of common symbols. Once encoded, the Escherichia coli are transferred onto thin film which can be mailed or handed off to another secret agent! Finally, the communique is revealed when the bacteria are grown in a fresh Petri dish. It may be extraneous, but SPAM is potentially the most foolproof and secure form of communication we have available.
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Steganography by Printed Arrays of Microbes
- The use of bacteria to clandestinely communicate opens up opportunities for secure and covert messaging.
- Fluorescent E. Coli Communication
- The ability to program E. coli to display different colors expands the potential for innovative communication methods.
- Secure Communication Through Bacterial Encoding
- Using bacteria as a medium for transmitting information provides a highly secure and almost foolproof communication channel.
Sectors Adopting This
- Biotechnology
- The development of bacterial communication techniques creates new avenues for research and innovation in the biotechnology industry.
- Information Technology
- The use of living organisms for communication purposes presents disruptive innovation opportunities in the information technology sector.
- Security and Surveillance
- The secure nature of bacterial encoding in communication opens up possibilities for innovative solutions in the security and surveillance industry.
