An encryption algorithm inspired from DNA

Abstract

DNA cryptography is a new promising direction in cryptography research that emerged with the progress in DNA computing field. DNA can be used not only to store and transmit information, but also to perform computations. The massive parallelism and extraordinary information density inherent in this molecule are exploited for cryptographic purposes, and several DNA based algorithms are proposed for encryption, authentification and so on. The current main difficulties of DNA cryptography are the absence of theoretical basis, the high tech lab requirements and computation limitations. In this paper, a symmetric key bloc cipher algorithm is proposed. It includes a step that simulates ideas from the processes of transcription (transfer from DNA to mRNA) and translation (from mRNA into amino acids). This algorithm is, we believe, efficient in computation and very secure, since it was designed following recommendations of experts in cryptography and focuses on the application of the fundamental principles of Shannon: Confusion and diffusion. Tests were conducted and the results are very satisfactory.