A unique contest among science students has been completed this week. Scholars had to decrypt secret messages in a DNA tube in order to receive a unit of BTC as a reward. The award did not have to wait long for a winner, and he appeared to be a PhD student from the University of Antwerp, as well as Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His name is Sander Wuyts.
DNA For Filing Info & BTC As a Prize
Around three years ago Nick Goldman, who is a professor at the honored European Bioinformatics Institute, took the floor at the World Economic Forum in Davos, speaking about how DNA could be used for retaining information. For example, he emphasized that it would exist after the owner’s death and, moreover, it could store enormous amounts of data.
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Soon after that, the professor commenced a competition for students, named the “DNA Storage Bitcoin Challenge.” What they had to do was to decode information in the tube by this year January 21. Sander Wuyts was among few students, who received a tube from the professor, who also added that they comprised important data “to claim the one bitcoin.”
At the time, when it was announced that the winner would receive bitcoin as an award, BTC’s price was fixed at around some hundred dollars. But now, at the beginning of 2018, the price of bitcoin fluctuates between $10,000 and $12,000. So the winner Wuyts is fortunate to have completed the assignment.
In the personal blog, the PhD student pointed out that he was a great supporter of cyber money for quite a long time, so he was happy to fight for it in the contest.
“In addition, like the rest of the world, I’ve discovered the magic of cryptocurrencies about half a year ago, and got excited by especially the theory behind it — Thus, when I read the following tweet, it goes without saying that I was extremely enthusiastic,” wrote the winner.
What Will The Winner Use Bitcoin For?
As the PhD student explained, some of his fellows set up a little hackathon. During it, they utilized DNA sequencers for creating a peculiar instrument for deciphering DNA. It took Wuyts some time to finally decode the message, and he managed to do it just right before the deadline. Initially, the student even was not sure whether it is possible to store data in DNA or not. But the competition helped him to understand that he was wrong.
According to his words, the hidden information was some memos, the image of European Bioinformatics Institute symbol, the outline, written by the Irish novelist James Joyce, as well as the rubric about how to claim BTC.
So finally, as Wuyts received his cyber coin, he said he would not sell it out too early, but rather hold on to it. As he realized, that BTC is an innovation that can provide him with considerable opportunities, he may use the asset to find his further studies. After he spends some of the crypto funds for research, Wuyts promised not to forget about his friends who helped him.
