Al Faruque: Eavesdrops on DNA Synthesizer to Steal Genetic Blueprint

CECS Professor Mohammad al Faruque, along with a group of graduate students (Arnav Malawade, John Chaput, and Sina Faezi), discovered that it is possible to record subtle sounds of a DNA synthesis machine, then reverse-engineering whatever genetic materials the machine is making. In other words, it is possible to hack such a machine by listening to it. Faruque’s accomplishments are featured in the New York Times and Wired. To read more, please see here (Wired), here (NY Times) or here (IEEE).