Algorithms for coding and decoding images and video data in DNA plasmid in Escherichia coli

The need for storage has increased with the development of social networks and streaming platforms. The storage requirement has gone from gigabytes to zettabytes. The use of networks requires thousands of images to perform the learning that allows them to be used as classification systems in health, facilitating the diagnosis of diseases. This situation has led research centers and institutions to join the DNA Data Storage Alliance and seek new information storage strategies. As a result, it has been suggested that DNA can store data and image information innovatively due to its density, stability, and scalability. In this sense, the present work develops the necessary bioinformatics, nomenclature, and an innovative algorithm that allows storing images and video in any DNA sequence, using, as an example, the plasmid pJK635 that can be inserted into the bacterium Escherichia coli and using these plasmids as storage of image information. The results show that 2K quality images in black and white, color, and even a video sequence can be stored inside a plasmid. The developed algorithm facilitates the storage of information by converting the pixel value of the images into a sequence of DNA nucleotides that can be stored within the plasmid, including the image size information, the file type, and the set of pixels in the image, all bounded between primers. Conversely, the image can be reconstructed by passing the nucleotides to their respective pixels for display on a computer.