From: David Lubkin (lubkin@unreasonable.com)
Date: Wed Oct 06 1999 - 12:10:48 MDT
I've always thought steganography was cool. This morning I started wondering
about placing or hiding messages inside biological organisms.
Variant 1: We complete mapping the human genome, and are studying the
results. We find a message, perhaps in the introns. A sequence of prime
numbers. A picture, like the one Sagan et al composed to send outward.
The text "I am the Lord thy God." A copyright statement.
Variant 2: Commercial genetic-engineering firms use PGP to encipher a
message, which they place in the introns of modified products they sell, as
proof of the authenticity of the product. Or, they hide a message, perhaps
including a serial number, as a way of detecting piracy.
Variant 3: Or spies use it, to transfer information. The secret plans to
the new weapon are in the E. coli in the intestinal tract of the agent.
Or in the placement of phosphorus in the third rib of a puppy being shipped
to Riyadh.
Question -- What biological structures or biochemical patterns can we alter
today, or very soon, with a fine enough granularity to fit a lengthy message
and long-term stability? Which can be altered in vivo, and which can only
be used on corpses?
-- David Lubkin.
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