In the future, information could be archived on DNA memories

In addition to the many different things that will change in relation to the hardware of our devices over the next few decades, the way in which we store content will also change permanently. This is particularly interesting for all those institutions that archive content on a daily basis and thus build up a large amount of data. Unfortunately, classic hard drives do not have a really long lifespan.

One way to change this would be to use DNA as a storage medium. Various approaches to this are already being researched, today we want to take a look at the digital nucleic acid memory. Because researchers have found a way to store and retrieve data with pens and pinboards made of DNA. Data is stored at nanometer intervals, a thousand times smaller than a human hair.

The advantage of this method is that the DNA does not have to be sequenced again when reading. The DNA pens light up whenever DNA previously fluorescently marked binds to them. As a result, the written data flashes, put simply, a memory location with information can be distinguished from an unwritten one.

The microscope can capture several hundred thousand DNA pens during a recording session, 330 gigabits per square centimeter could be read in this way. One of the reasons why such a memory is so interesting is that it can bundle a lot of information in a very small space. All tweets, emails, photos, songs, films and books that were ever made would fit in a jewelry box through a DNA memory.

Archives could therefore store all important information about us with little space requirement, at the same time it should be stored securely for at least 500 years. Compared to an HDD or SSD, this is a big step forward. Nevertheless, it will take some time before the technology can be rolled out on a broad basis.

Own opinion:

Information carriers have changed steadily over the centuries. Thousands of years ago people drew pictures on cave walls, but with the industrial revolution, magnetic memories (which reached up to floppy disks) found their way into us. So in the future, when it comes to storing content, DNA could be the method of choice.

Via TNW