LIFE IDEAS THE FUTURE OF EVERYTHING Is DNA the Future of Data Storage? How a synthetic version of our genetic code could become the world’s most efficient hard drive

Cecile G. Tamura October 26 at 6:33am Coding the Message : How data files become synthetic DNA The worldwide total of stored digital data will hit 16 trillion gigabytes next year, most of it housed in huge data centers. A shoebox worth of DNA could hold the equivalent of roughly 100 giant data centers. DNA can be remarkably durable, particularly when kept cool and dry. In March, researchers announced that they had partially reconstructed the genomes of ancient humans whose bones had been in a Spanish cave for more than 400,000 years. In contrast, the magnetic tape that is the best long-term data storage option today lasts only a few decades before starting to degrade. Storing data in DNA requires translating the 1s and 0s of binary digital files into long strings of the four different nucleotides, or bases, that make up DNA strands and write out the genetic code. In 2012, Harvard molecular biologist George Church wrote a 50,000-word book totaling less than a megabyte of data into DNA and printed it onto a glass chip smaller than a pollen grain. This year he reported having encoded 22 megabytes of digital data. Microsoft says it has now written almost 10 times as much digital data into a collection of millions of pieces of DNA, each 150 bases long. Is DNA the Future of Data Storage? How a synthetic version of our genetic code could become the world’s most efficient hard drive WSJ.COM|BY JAY GREENE LikeShow more reactionsCommentShare