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Taking inspiration from the forbidden fruit that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, a bio artist wants to create his own version of the tree of knowledge - using Wikipedia.

Joe Davis from Harvard's genetics lab has devised a mathematical formula to add layers of data to DNA.

He now plans to add a decoded version of the online encyclopaedia into the DNA of a 4,000-year-old strain of apple, which he claims is the closest he could get to fruit from the biblical tale.

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The Malus ecclesia project is the brainchild of bio artist Joe Davis from Harvard Medical School's genetics lab. He created a mathematical formula to add layers of information to the DNA of a 4,000-year-old apple, stock image pictured, because it is 'the closest thing to fruit grown in the Garden of Eden'

Davis, 63, is the artist in residence at George Church's genetics lab, at Harvard Medical School.

The apple he is creating has been dubbed Malus ecclesia.

Malus is the apple's Latin genus name that means 'evil apple tree', while ecclesia is Latin for church which works both in a religious sense, and represents the name of Davis' lab.

Along with scientists and mathematicians Dana Boyle and Madeline Prye-Ball, Davis searched for years to find an of apple old enough for the project, and was sent the roots and leaves of the 4,000-year-old strain at the end of last year.

During the 30c3 conference in Germany in December, Davis said: 'I couldn't stop thinking and maths and DNA.

'I came up with a way to not only put one layer of information under a gene, but lots and lots of layers – like Babushka dolls.

'Every DNA molecule has three pages of information available.

'This is because DNA can be represented by three unique numbers.

One number is the DNA itself, the protein it's translated to creates another number, and then there's the redundant codons.

Along with scientists and mathematicians Dana Boyle and Madeline Prye-Ball, Davis is planning to add the top 50,000 pages of Wikipedia, stock image pictured, to the fruit. This equates to 50 per cent of the most visited pages and contains around 350MB data

Every DNA molecule can be represented by three unique numbers, a slide taken from Davis' recent conference talk in Germany is pictured. Davis will translate the words from Wikipedia into the four letters of DNA, then use bacteria to add these letters to the apple's genome without affecting its taste

'So then I made this mathematical genetic code that let me write three layers of information using these numbers, inserting it under areas occupied by the redundant codons. '

During the conference, Davis also said he wanted to 'create fruit that would tempt the devil.'

Davis, pictured, won the Golden Nica of the Prix Ars Electronica in 2012. He previously inserted the words of a Greek philosopher into the genes of a fly

Due to the size of Wikipedia, Davis and his team chose to decode only the top 50,000 pages of the online encyclopaedia , which make up 50 per cent of the most visited pages across the site.

The amount of data equated to around 350MB.

Davis told the New Yorker the apple genome is like a 750 million letter book, made up of the four letters of DNA - A, T,C and G.

The words are translated into these letters of DNA using a mathematical code, similar to how Morse code and shorthand compress words to single marks.

Once coded, these letters are placed within the apple using bacteria that evolves to inserts its genome through the cell walls. 

By inputting the information into the gaps in the DNA, Davis said t shouldn't affect the taste or texture of the apple. 

Davis' first project, using a similar technique, was to put the writings of Greek philosopher, Heraclitus into the genes of a fly. 

'[The project] draws together science and religion in very close proximity,' Davis continued.

The fruit has also been dubbed forbidden because eating genetically modified plants in the U.S is strictly governed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN

In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve were described as living with God in the Garden of Eden. 

In the garden were two trees - the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life.

The Bible claims God had forbidden eating fruit from these trees, but a serpent took an apple from the Tree of Knowledge and tempted Eve into eating it. 

She was then said to have consequently corrupted Adam.  

God banished them from the garden to prevent them from eating more fruit, especially from the Tree of Life which would have made them immortal. 

Many Christians refer to this as the Fall of Man and believe the sin corrupted the natural world and meant people were born into original sin, meaning believers can't attain eternal life without the grace of God.