How Does DNA Compare With Conventional Data Storage Now

Well, just like everything else, we've been quite active at improving DNA storing technologies in the past few years.  It's in fact quite amazing how far we've gone and exactly when industry experts figure we'll be able to use the technology commercially.

In 2012, 1 gram of DNA could store about 700 terabytes of data.  Today, in 2017, 1 gram of DNA successfully stored 215,000 terabytes of data.  That's roughly 100,000 2TB hard drives.

That's a lot of information that takes up lots of space and materials.

DNA storage today is so compact that we could fit the entirety of humanity's recorded knowledge inside a standard garage, with room to spare.  Not only that but DNA stored in one's garage would stay stable and accessible for potentially hundreds of thousands of years, unless a fire occurs.

That's because DNA molecules can physically hug each other without a problem, they are chemically hyper stable, aren't affected by EMP (electromagnetic pulses) and magnets of any kind.  So in the case of a cosmic EMP or an artificial one, DNA storage keeps our data safe.

I go through this a bit more along with why this sort of storage medium is important for us and could serve us in the future better than traditional data storage mediums in the following video:

But before I get into further details, I need to explain what is DNA and how information can be stored inside it.

DNA is a molecule composed of 4 different molecules:  Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Guanine (G) and Cytosine (C).  These molecules are set in the shape of a spiral staircase in sets of either A-T or C-G.

Since A always goes with T and C always with G, DNA is a binary code when used to store bytes.  For example, A-T bonds are "0" and C-G bonds and "1".  In biology however, DNA encodes for proteins in a different way (NOT zeros and ones), but we're not doing biology here.

So basically, DNA is simply replacing our "0" and "1. schema of data storage at this point.

Companies and researchers have been looking into storing data on DNA for almost 70 years with only strong successes appearing 5 years ago, with, for example, the Scripps Institute being one of the first to properly encode and decode data using DNA sequencing using what could be called a biological computer in 2012.

But now, things are progressing quickly and larger firms desire to be the first to use DNA storage properly, cheaply and reliably.  Notably, Microsoft intends to start storing its data by 2020, 3 years from now.  This is an interesting concept to be sure, especially since storing data using DNA is still very expensive at approximately $800,000 USD for 200 megabytes of data.

Another current issue, is that current speed of encoding data in this way is at about 400 bytes per second.  In order to make the process commercially viable and interesting, the cost has to go down by a factor of at least 1,000 and the speed has to increase by a factor of 250,000 (up to about 100 megabytes per second or more).

So there seems to be confidence from Microsoft to achieve these goals pretty quickly.  Honestly, I give them and other entrants into this field a 50-50 chance to achieve these goals by 2020.  But if it's not in 3 years, it may be 5.

Just like anything else, we can't anticipate how other technologies will help this particular project along.

What is definite is that DNA is certainly a superior storage medium as far as efficiency of space, weight and environmental impact (all organic, non-polluting materials).  The cost and speed of processing is something engineers and the economy are quite used to managing quite well as a technology becomes more interesting, more efforts are put into it and if it becomes popular too.

So could we expect having small smartphone sized DNA storage devices in each one of our homes that can contain all the data a household could ever need to store (thousands of movies, home videos, all the music you may need, all the household's pictures, data and even security video footage you'd ever want)?  Sure it certainly looks like it'll be possible.

Will we be able to use house refuse to create the DNA elements needed (A, T, C, G are molecules that need to either be manufactured or purchased) to store more information?  That's also possible since Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine are organic molecules made up of the same type of materials as what is inside your veggies and meats.  Heck, those very molecules are inside since they are composed of cells with DNA in them themselves.  :)

As always, it'll be an interesting ride to see how opportunists and inventors will help make this particular type of technology viable, or help move us towards something even better.

Both cases are interesting and should be encouraged.

So let's make it all happen!