Our DNA Is Becoming the World’s Tiniest Hard Drive

Storing information in DNA? It is possible and is already being done daily.

An article by Lila Reynolds and published in the Northwestern University web site describes the latest technology:

“Our genetic code is millions of times more efficient at storing data than existing solutions, which are costly and use immense amounts of energy and space. In fact, we could get rid of hard drives and store all the digital data on the planet within a couple hundred pounds of DNA.

“Using DNA as a high-density data storage medium holds the potential to forge breakthroughs in biosensing and biorecording technology and next-generation digital storage, but researchers haven’t been able to overcome inefficiencies that would allow the technology to scale.

“Now, researchers at Northwestern University propose a new method for recording information to DNA that takes minutes, rather than hours or days, to complete. The team used a novel enzymatic system to synthesize DNA that records rapidly changing environmental signals directly into DNA sequences, a method the paper’s senior author said could change the way scientists study and record neurons inside the brain.”

You can read Lila Reynolds’ full article at https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2021/10/intracellular-recording-data-to-dna/ and that article contains a link to a far more technical article, “Recording Temporal Signals with Minutes Resolution Using Enzymatic DNA Synthesis.”