Using life’s chosen storage medium to back up our valuable data would enable massive volumes of data to be saved in small molecules.
According to experts, the data would likewise survive thousands of years. A team in Atlanta, Georgia, has invented a device that they claim can outperform conventional kinds of DNA storage by a factor of 100.
How Does DNA Storage Work?
The method works by constructing unique strands of DNA one at a time. These building pieces are known as bases, and they are comprised of four special chemical units that make up the DNA molecule. The grounds, also known as DNA letters, may then be used to encode information like the strings of ones and zeroes (binary code) employed in conventional computers.
There are many possible methods for storing this information in DNA; for example, a zero in binary coding might be represented by the nucleotides adenine or cytosine and a one by guanine or thymine. A one and a zero, on the other hand, might be mapped to just two of the four bases.
According to scientists, if every movie ever created was encoded in DNA, it could fit into a container no larger than a sugar cube. Given its compactness and dependability, it’s hardly a surprise that DNA has sparked widespread attention as the next medium for storing data that must be retained permanently.
The Building Blocks of DNA Storage
The structures used to develop the DNA on the chip are known as microwells, and they are a few hundred nanometres deep – less than the thickness of a sheet of paper.
The present prototype microprocessor is around 2.5cm (one-inch) square and has numerous microwells, enabling many DNA strands to be synthesized in tandem. This will allow for more significant quantities of DNA to be produced in less time.
Initially, DNA data storage will not replace server farms for information that has to be accessed rapidly and often. Because of the time needed to read the sequence, the approach would be most helpful for data that must be kept accessible for an extended period but is seldom accessed.
Currently, this sort of data is saved on magnetic tapes, which need to be changed every ten years. However, with DNA, as long as the temperature is kept low enough, the data will live for thousands of years, lowering the cost of ownership to almost $0.