Scientists Want To Store All Information On DNA
- 11 years ago
Two scientists from the European Bioinformatics Institute near Cambridge in the United Kingdom, have figured out a way to store data using DNA sequences.
Two scientists from the European Bioinformatics Institute near Cambridge in the United Kingdom, have figured out a way to store data using DNA sequences.
Instead of transferring data sources to newer, more efficient media as time goes on, using DNA sequencing could be a very effective way to keep records of text, pictures, and sounds.
The researchers encoded Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets, a PDF file of the James Watson and Francis Crick paper about discovering the double helix shape of DNA, and a JPEG image of the European Bioinformatics Institute.
Using a complex coding system, the scientists were able to transfer the information onto DNA, which can hold the equivalent of 3 million CDs in a single gram.
The researchers have even gone so far as to imagine a DNA storage facility capable of holding all of the information that is known and available to modern humans.
Although the prospect is cost prohibitive at this point, the technology surrounding DNA is advancing significantly.
Also, DNA storage would keep the information accessible for thousands of years.
Two scientists from the European Bioinformatics Institute near Cambridge in the United Kingdom, have figured out a way to store data using DNA sequences.
Instead of transferring data sources to newer, more efficient media as time goes on, using DNA sequencing could be a very effective way to keep records of text, pictures, and sounds.
The researchers encoded Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets, a PDF file of the James Watson and Francis Crick paper about discovering the double helix shape of DNA, and a JPEG image of the European Bioinformatics Institute.
Using a complex coding system, the scientists were able to transfer the information onto DNA, which can hold the equivalent of 3 million CDs in a single gram.
The researchers have even gone so far as to imagine a DNA storage facility capable of holding all of the information that is known and available to modern humans.
Although the prospect is cost prohibitive at this point, the technology surrounding DNA is advancing significantly.
Also, DNA storage would keep the information accessible for thousands of years.