Storing information in DNA is possible, but quite complicated and slow. Various companies have been researching this for years – and to drive this development forward, they have now founded the DNA Data Storage Alliance.

Continue Way to application Microsoft and Western Digital are probably the most prominent co-founders, with Twist Bioscience and Illumina as well. Twist Bioscience and Microsoft have been working with the University of Washington for years to store data in synthetic DNA. Last year, they had already shown a prototype of automated DNA storage and, in collaboration with Twist Bioscience, proved that it is also possible to store larger amounts of data.

However, it is still up to a commercial application a long way to go, said Karin Strauss from Microsoft Research in a presentation at the Flash Memory Summit. The foundation of the DNA Data Storage Allience initially served to provide information about the technology, to recognize possible applications and then possibly to develop a roadmap for commercial uses.

Advantages of DNA storage Overall, however, Strauss does not see data storage in synthetic DNA as competition for flash storage. Currently the latency is way too high and the speed is way too slow. DNA storage could perhaps serve as an archive medium, but not as fast working memory. Compared to current techniques of long-term archiving, however, DNA storage is much more suitable: Strauss reckons that the information in it would last between two thousand and two million years. Another advantage of the DNA memory: There will always be readers for DNA; different from current storage media.

If the technology is mature, it should also be less polluting than the current one. Strauss compared DNA storage with a tape: To store 1 TB of data over a year, tape drives require three times the energy, and accordingly three times the CO2 emissions can be expected.

Should the technology one day be ready for the market, the space requirement should also be significantly less. An exabyte would fit in a cube with an edge length of one inch (2, 54 cm), said Strauss. For most users, the storage space in the pink spot in the picture above could be sufficient: This is 10 TByte. (ll)