Futuristic Data Storage Technology
We all know that DNA contains information about a living organism. It can keep a track of everything in a living being. It is for this very reason why big corporate such as Microsoft are investing in research that studies how DNA can be used to store data. Unlike most of the existing data storage devices, DNA is capable of preserving data in a compact form without degrading it. Due to this, now scientists are coming up with a new way of storing information, by using DNA. For example, just four grams of DNA can capture information produced in a year by all of humanity combined. Thus, if this experiment is a success, then it would contribute immensely in handling information and keeping it intact.
Data Storage Progress over the years
With the progress over the years, the amount of data that we produce and consume has grown at a rapid pace. Long gone are the days when a 1.44MB floppy disk would sufficeall our needs. This continuous increase in data necessitates a more robust and durable data storage device. In a study published in the journal Science, Researchers Yaniv Erlich and Dina Zielinski demonstrated how DNA may be the answer to our needs for storing data.
The experiment that, two scientists, Erlich and Zielinski had done was something like this: they stored six files into 72,000 DNA strands, each 200 bases long. The files included a full computer operating system, an 1895 French film, an Amazon gift card, a computer virus, a Pioneer plaque, and a study by information theorist Claude Shannon. “We mapped the bits of the files to DNA nucleotides. Then, we synthesized these nucleotides and stored the molecules in a test-tube,” Erlich told. “To pack the information, we devised a strategy called DNA Fountain that uses mathematical concepts from coding theory. It was this strategy that allowed us to achieve optimal packing, which was the most challenging aspect of the study”. For retrieving data, researchers used DNA sequencing technology and a software to translate the genetic code back into binary. “To retrieve the information, we sequenced the molecules. This is the basic process,” Erlich said. The results were remarkable; the recovered files were error free!
Recordings that last a century
The means of preserving data intact have greatly improved over the years. Nowadays, microchips are being used instead of magnetic film or paper. But DNA can prove to be even a better option. This is because the data recordings last a century or more. According to Erlich, “DNA has several big advantages. First, it is much smaller than traditional media. In fact, we showed that we can reach a density of 215 Petabytes per gram of DNA! Second, DNA lasts for an extended period of time, over 100 years, which is orders of magnitude more than traditional media. Try to listen to any disk from the 90s, and see if it’s still good.”
According to Erlich, it is high time, all of us moved on to a much proficient technology. “Traditional media suffers from digital obsoleteness. My parents have 8 mm tapes that are basically useless now,” he added. “DNA has been around for 3 billion years, and humanity is unlikely to lose its ability to read these molecules. If it does, we will have much bigger problems than data storage.”This technology would be ready for use in more than a decade, as stated by Erlich. “We are still in early days, but it also took magnetic media years of research and development before it became useful.”
Thus, usage of DNA for data storage in the coming future would prove to be a revolutionary technique in this data-driven era. Since the recordings last a century. We have long left the days of storing megabytes of files in floppies. Nowadays, hard drives are used to storing terabytes. DNA holds the power to whitewash all of them and provide much more reliability and preservation.
