DNA Storage

Introduction DNA is a natural storage source “The total world's information, which is 1.8

zettabytes, [could be stored] in about four grams of DNA”

A lot of information in one, small location

How does it Work?

Message or Information in Binary is Encoded into A, C, G, and T

DNA is synthesized from the A, C, G, T encoding

DNA sequence of A, C, G, and T is inputted on the synthesized DNA

Finally, the A, C, G, T is decoded back to binary so it can be read by a computer

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11875.htm l

Promise for the Future Harvard University European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Error Correcting Code (ECC) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PgB4XJBJv0

Advantages Miniscule in size, not in storage capabilities Longevity Durable Archival Storage No Electricity

Disadvantages Only manufactured in short strings Writing and reading DNA is prone to errors Retrieval takes a long time Archival purposes

ONLY

Disadvantages cont. Price

Activity Cost (per megabyte)

Information Storage $12,400

Information Decoding $220

Why Choose DNA? “All we're doing is adapting what nature

has hit upon—a very good way of storing information”

Technology is advancing Advantages are sizable and disadvantages

are temporary

References Bushwick, Sophie. “Researchers A-C-T on DNA Storage.” Scientific American. 25 January

2013. Web. 15 April 2013. < http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=researchers-a-c-t-on-dna-storage-13-01-25>

“Light Friday: DNA Storage May Replace the Hard Drive.” imt: Industry Market Trends. 1 February 2013. Web. 15 April 2013. < http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2013/02/01/light-friday-dna-storage-may-replace-the-hard-drive/>

Mearian, Lucas. “DNA may soon be used for storage.” ComputerWorld. 24 January 2013. Web. 15 April 2013. < http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9236176/DNA_may_soon_be_used_for_storage >

Naik, Gautam. “Storing Digital Data in DNA:Technique One Day May Replace Hard Drives as Web Leads to Information Deluge.” The Wall Street Journal. 24 January 2013. Web. 15 April 2013. < http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324539304578259883507543150.html >

“Towards practical, high-capacity, low-maintenance information storage in synthesized DNA.” Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. 15 May 2012. Web. 15 April 2013. < http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11875.html >