Did you know that in one gram of DNA is it possible to store 1000000000 Terabyte data for 1000 years?
Microsoft claims to have purchased 10 million synthetic DNA clones (called Oligonucleotides or oligonucleotides also known as DNA molecules) from the Twist startup and collaborated with researchers from Washington University to explore the idea of using synthetic DNA in data storage.
Microsoft plans to drastically change the future of data storage technology, as we know it to date.
The volume and rate of data generated and stored every day is so fast that servers and hard discs must be replaced periodically, potentially increasing the risk of wear and tear and data loss.
According to statistics, 5,4 zettabytes (4.400 billion gigabytes) of digital data are circulating and available in the world today. The data these were created by 2015, and will skyrocket to 54 zettabytes (ZB) by 2020.
For this reason, Microsoft has begun collaborations with scientists from the University of Washington that aim to use DNA as a data storage medium.
DNA data density density is far higher than in conventional storage systems, as only 1 grams of DNA can store approximately 1 billion terabytes of data.
In addition, DNA is remarkably powerful, which means that the data stored in DNA can remain intact and read for a very long time (from 1000 to 10.000 years).
According to Twist, all existing digital data could be stored in less than 20 grams of DNA.
Although the technology is still a long way off the shelves market (δεν θα δείτε κάποιο DNΑ smartphone σύντομα), οι αρχικές δοκιμές που πραγματοποιήθηκαν το περασμένο φθινόπωρο αποδεικνύουν ότι θα μπορούσε να ανακτηθεί το 100% των ψηφιακών δεδομένων που κωδικοποιούνται στο DNΑ, όπως ανακοίνωσε ο Doug Carmean της Microsoft Research in a press release.
Recently, the American Chemical Society reported that data storage in DNA could last up to 2.000 years without any risk of deterioration.
