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Encoding

digital Nucleic Acid Memory (dNAM) is an alternative to sequencer-based DNA memory. In dNAM, data is encoded by selecting combinations of single-stranded DNA with (1) or without (0) docking-site domains on DNA origami breadboards. Information encoded into origami is read by monitoring the binding of fluorescent imager probes using DNA-PAINT super-resolution microscopy. As a prototype, a small message is encoded using fifteen origami structures. An error-correction algorithm fully recover the message when individual docking sites, or entire origami, are missing. Unlike other approaches to DNA-based data storage, reading dNAM does not require sequencing. As such, it offers an additional path to explore the advantages and disadvantages of DNA as an emerging memory material.