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Whatever happened to DNA-based storage research? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It seems like 6 or 7 years ago there was research into new forms of storage, using crystals or DNA that promised ultra high density storage. I know the read/write speed was not very fast, but I thought by now there would be more progress in the area. Apparently in 2021 there was a team that got a 16GB file stored in DNA. In the last month there's some company (Biomemory) that lets you store 1KB of data into DNA for $1,000, but if you want to read it, you have to send it to them. I don't understand why you would use that today.

I wonder if it will ever be viable for us to have DNA readers/writers... but I also wonder if there are other new types of data storage coming up that might be just as good.

If you know anything about the DNA research or other new storage forms, what do you think is the most promising one?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Im most excited about the potential for crystal based storage. Right now there is work being done to etch silica glass internally, allowing for incredibly long term preservation and durability. It can even be rewritten, though the tech is definetly best for achival purposes and is being pursued primarily by movie companies wanting high quality storage.

Heres a video discussing it more in deapth: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6CzHsibqpIs

DNA also sounds interesting, though it doesnt seem like a good way of preserving data long term. DNA is very fragile, and seems like an odd route to take for long term archiving.

[–] TCB13 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

DNA also sounds interesting, though it doesnt seem like a good way of preserving data long term. DNA is very fragile, and seems like an odd route to take for long term archiving.

Yeah the 5D quartz disk is very cool.

Anyways if you think about storage density DNA isn't that "odd". With DNA you can store dozens of copies of the data and parity checks in a very small space so even if some gets corrupted you can still get it. I get that organic stuff has its limits but the density is just mind blowing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Density is defintly amazing in DNA, its just so fragile. Even our own bodies have a constant degridation of our DNA... I wonder if they could take that concept and make something sturdier by using slightly different molecules to make up the chains.

Maybe shorter chains with stronger cross bonding & a gentle method of reading the chain could also help?

Its definetly an interesting route & itll be cool to see what happens with it over the next 10-15 years.