Harvard Scientists Squeeze 700 TB Of Data In A Single Gram Of DNA

The world record for DNA data density has just been smashed by scientists from the Harvard’s Wyss Institute. Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, George Church and bioengineer Sri Kosuri have successfully managed to store 5.5 petabits of data, which is around 700 terabytes, in a single gram of DNA.

The storage process involves synthesization of strands of DNA that store 96 bits, with each of the bases T,G,A and C representing a binary value (T and G = 1, A and C = 0). To read the data, each of the TGAC bases has to be converted back to binary, following a particular sequence. Each strand of DNA starts with a 19-bit address block, which helps in sequencing.

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DNA can serve to be a great storage medium, particularly owing to three important features. The dense nature is of advantage as a storage medium as each bit holds space only a few atoms large. DNA is volumetric unlike its planar disk counterparts and seals the deal with its stability and longevity, as DNA can last hundreds and thousands of years. All these properties make DNA a lucrative option for storage.

Recent advances have paved the way for DNA sequencing and biological repository that exceedingly increases our storage capacity.

Source: Harvard cracks DNA storage, crams 700 terabytes of data into a single gram | ExtremeTech Image Credit: #-Link-Snipped-#