TAIPEI, TAIWAN, Feb.28, 2023- We have to admit that this world is full of different types of data now. Figuring out how to store data in an efficient and affordable way becomes more and more challenging. An interesting solution might be the best: archiving data in the DNA molecules. By leveraging biotechnology advances in synthesizing, manipulating, and sequencing DNA to develop archive storage.
Along with the improvements in technologies, information will generate an estimated 33 zettabytes of data by 2025. The need for data storage is growing exponentially, however, the capacity of storage media is not keeping up.The majority of data is still stored on magnetic and optical media today.
The idea of DNA digital data storage can be traced back to the 1950s. Richard P. Feynman, a physicist, indicated the general prospects for the creation of artificial objects similar to objects of the microcosm (including biology) and having similar or even more extensive capabilities. After 60 years, the scientists at Harvard University have successfully stored a 52,000-word book in thousands of snippets of DNA.
The process of converting digital data into DNA basically consists of turning it into the DNA alphabet, which consists of adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). The most common way to turn digital information into DNA code simply requires converting the 0s and 1s of digital code into these four letters, then synthesizing the DNA to match.
The most significant impediment to storing data on DNA is the cost. The cost of storing DNA depends on the synthesis method as well as the encoding scheme and how it is decoded. To convert an article into DNA would mean initially compressing the data, applying an encoding scheme, and then sending this off to a lab to synthesize it at a rough cost of $1,000.
Now, advanced technologies help us store digital data in DAN and protect it for hundreds of years. Although some bottlenecks must be overcome before larger amounts of data can be stored, we look forward to the fact that in the next couple of years, DNA storage products will be accessible to customers.
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About WASAI Technology Inc.
WASAI Technology's mission is to deliver acceleration technologies of High-Performance Data Analysis (HPDA) in future data centers for targeted vertical applications with massive volumes and high velocities of scientific data. To strengthen and advance scientific discovery and technological research via big data-intensive acceleration in high-performance computing, WASAI Technology aims to improve commercialization and commoditization of scientific and technological applications.
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