A new Star Trek NFT is stored on the DNA of bacteria, and there are billions of copies already

• Roddenberry Entertainment has created a non-fungible token (NFT) of sci-fi legend Gene Roddenberry’s signature on the first-ever Star Trek contract.
• The signature of the man who created Star Trek will be stored on the DNA code of bacteria.
• In the 10 hours after being implanted, the bacteria had already replicated to create billions of copies of the NFT.

Sci-fi legend Gene Roddenberry’s signature on the first ever contract for Star Trek with Lucille Ball’s Desilu Productions is being minted on the Solana blockchain but is being stored organically, on DNA. According to the creators, Roddenberry Entertainment, this is the first-ever living ecological non-fungible token (NFT).

The signature from the contract dated 18 May 1965 will be implanted in DNA code into the cell of live bacteria. And, as the bacteria replicates and duplicates itself, so will the NFT — a supply of a billion in one night.

Star Trek NFTs may come back as zombie bacteria

One could argue that if there are billions of copies of the same NFT being created on a daily basis, it’s not really unique. However, the creators have named the NFT ‘El Primero’, which means ‘the first’ in Spanish.

The bacteria cells are currently dormant. The sample was freeze-dried after 10 hours of embedding the code. The creators say this leaves the door open for reanimation in the future, at which time the bacteria will be able to begin replicating themselves once again.

Living eco-NFTs want to address the environment controversy

It’s not only fossil fuels and mining for cryptocurrencies that have taken a hit for being a contributor to climate change. NFTs too have appeared on the radar for being a energy-guzzling process, especially since a lot of it happens on the Ethereum blockchain.


According to the creators, the Star Trek NFT will be carbon-neutral if not carbon negative, since it’s minted using bacteria. Certain research has shown that the use of synthetic DNA for data storage has the potential to cut down on greenhouse emissions and energy usage as compared to the commercial options available today.


Moreover, the Star Trek NFT is being placed on the Solana blockchain. Dubbed as one of the ‘Ethereum Killers’ in the crypto market, Solana uses the proof-of-stake (PoS) validation method, which consumes less energy to verify transactions as compared to the proof-of-work (PoW) method currently employed by Ethereum.


According to digiconomist, a single transaction on the Ethereum blockchain uses just as much electricity as an average US household over the course of nearly a week. Meanwhile, a single transaction on Solana only uses as much power as two Google searches.

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