PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Kaikai Chen AU - Jinbo Zhu AU - Filip Boskovic AU - Ulrich F. Keyser TI - Secure data storage on DNA hard drives AID - 10.1101/857748 DP - 2019 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 857748 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/28/857748.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/28/857748.full AB - DNA is emerging as a novel material for digital data storage. The two main challenges are efficient encoding and data security. Here, we develop an approach that allows for writing and erasing data by relying solely on Watson-Crick base pairing of short oligonucleotides to single-stranded DNA overhangs located along a long double-stranded DNA hard drive (DNA-HD). Our enzyme-free system enables fast synthesis-free data writing with predetermined building blocks. The use of DNA base pairing allows for secure encryption on DNA-HDs that requires a physical key and nanopore sensing for decoding. The system is suitable for miniature integration for an end-to-end DNA storage device. Our study opens a novel pathway for rewritable and secure data storage with DNA.One Sentence Summary Storing digital information on molecules along DNA hard drives for rewritable and secure data storage.