DNA-based watermarks using the DNA-Crypt algorithm

The DNA-Crypt algorithm and image steganography are based on the same watermark-hiding principle, namely using the least significant base in case of DNA-Crypt and the least significant bit in case of the image steganography. It can be combined with binary encryption algorithms like AES, RSA or Blowfish. DNA-Crypt is able to correct mutations in the target DNA with several mutation correction codes such as the Hamming-code or the WDH-code. Mutations which can occur infrequently may destroy the encrypted information, however an integrated fuzzy controller decides on a set of heuristics based on three input dimensions, and recommends whether or not to use a correction code. These three input dimensions are the length of the sequence, the individual mutation rate and the stability over time, which is represented by the number of generations. In silico experiments using the Ypt7 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows that the DNA watermarks produced by DNA-Crypt do not alter the translation of mRNA into protein.The program is able to store watermarks in living organisms and can maintain the original information by correcting mutations itself. Pairwise or multiple sequence alignments show that DNA-Crypt produces few mismatches between the sequences similar to all steganographic algorithms.Sensitive information, especially secret information must be protected against unauthorized access. To achieve this researchers have looked for new cryptographic or steganographic techniques. Existing algorithms encrypt or hide information in binary files, however there are other media, which can be used. There are several algorithms, which encode information into DNA sequences. Examples are the concepts of Clelland et al., Gehani et al., Leier et al, Wong et al. and Arita et al [1-5]. These techniques can be used for authentication or to store data for long time.Inspired by the micro-dots used during the 2nd world war, Clelland et al. developed an extension of this principle [1]. The scienti