DNA has been modified to make it store data 350 times faster
Researchers have managed to encode enormous amounts of information, including images, into DNA at a rate hundreds of times faster than was previously possible
DNA has been used for years to store data, but encoding information into the molecule is painstaking work. Now, researchers have drastically sped it up by mimicking a natural biological process that drives gene expression. This could lead to durable, do-it-yourself DNA data storage technologies.
Even though a single gram of DNA can store hundreds of millions of gigabytes of data, the technology to make use of this isn’t yet fully viable. This is partly because the process of encoding data in DNA requires that each molecule be synthesised “from scratch” after being designed to encode a specific piece of information.
Long Qian at Peking University in China and her colleagues have now developed a way to write information onto DNA more efficiently.
“A good analogy is using a typewriter, where you have to type each letter, versus printing,” says Harris Wang at Columbia University in New York, who wasn’t involved with the work. “They could essentially get all of [the information] onto the ‘paper’ all at once.”
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First commercial DNA data storage service set to launch in 2019
A start-up called Catalog claims it will be able to store a terabyte of data in a gram-sized DNA pellet, but questions remain over whether the technology is ready
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BIG data could be about to get much smaller. Catalog, a start-up based at the Harvard Life Lab, has announced plans for the first commercial DNA data storage service. The company says it has developed a way to cheaply store a terabyte of data – the equivalent of 40 Blu-rays – in a DNA pellet.
Using DNA as a data storage medium has long held appeal thanks to its durability and density. If kept cool and dry, DNA can reliably last for hundreds of years, so…
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