Programs and functions in DNA-based data storage

A method for operating on digital information stored in nucleic acid molecules, the method comprising:

• (a) obtaining a first pool of identifier nucleic acid molecules, the identifier nucleic acid molecules representing input strings of symbols, the pool having powder, liquid, or solid form, each identifier nucleic acid molecule in the first pool comprising component nucleic acid molecules, at least a portion of which are configured to bind to one or more probes;
• (b) performing an if-then-else operation on the input strings by applying a probe to the identifier nucleic acid molecules in the first pool, the probe configured to target at least one of the component nucleic acid molecules to create an intermediate pool comprising a subset of identifier nucleic acid molecules from said first pool;
• and
• (c) repeating step (b) until a final pool of identifier nucleic acid molecules is created that represents at least a portion of an output string of symbols, wherein at each subsequent step (b) the if-then-else operation is performed on the intermediate pool from the previous step.