Could DNA provide the answer to our data storage conundrum?
We and numerous other companies within the data recovery and tech-spheres have
written about how, in the age of big data, we’re producing files at such a rate
that there is an urgent need for media to offer far greater storage density than is currently possible. Several potential solutions for this problem have
been posited by scientists throughout the last decade. One, though, has
captured the imagination like no other: DNA Digital Data Storage.
Yes, for more than a decade the material that forms the
building blocks of life has been touted as a means of storing vast quantities
of data in unimaginably small spaces. In 2012, a journal published the results
of a study conducted by geneticists at Harvard University within which it was
claimed that 5.5 PBs (that’s 55,000 GBs) of data could be stored in just one cubic
millimetre of DNA; both the concept of storing data in DNA and the storage
density that can be achieved through this method both seem to belong in a
science-fiction novel.
With such incredible storage capacities, the contents of a
data centre could be stored in a takeaway coffee cup. This would significantly
reduce the environmental damage brought about by our thirst for data. The energy
needed to run data centres and the process of collecting the materials needed
to manufacture storage media both have a substantial effect on the natural
world but, with the creation of such high-density storage media, these problems
would be almost entirely eradicated.
So, DNA digital data storage would appear to be the answer
to a very big problem. As we’ve said previously, though, it’s been touted as
such for just over a decade and, whilst researchers appear to be moving towards
a means of making it a practicable solution, progress has been slow. Whilst
this is not surprising considering the enormity and difficulty of the task
these researchers have been assigned with, it does not change the fact that a
solution for our storage woes is desperately needed now – not in several years
or decades.
Additionally, there are problems with practicality and cost.
The process of retrieving data stored within DNA is arguably the greatest
challenge faced by researchers and developers. A significant breakthrough was
made here in 2017 when several pieces of data including an operating system, a
short film and a computer virus were stored within synthesised DNA and then
retrieved with DNA sequencing technology, but researchers still face significant
challenges.
The first thing to note is that synthesising the data for
this experiment cost $7,000 (just over £5,000) and a further $2,000 (£1,460)
was spent on retrieving the relevant files. In other words, it’s far too
expensive to replace flash media and HDDs at this stage. The process of reading
the data stored in DNA is also extremely slow meaning that it would simply not
be suitable for anything beyond archiving at this stage.
So, whilst we may be approaching the verge of a brave new
world (in terms of data storage, at least), it remains to be seen when, or if, DNA
digital data storage will become the de facto means of storing digital files.