Section 1.1: The Promise of DNA Storage

Researchers are investigating the potential of synthetic DNA for data storage. A minuscule sample of DNA could theoretically contain 10,000 gigabytes of information, equivalent to that of 600 standard smartphones. However, the practicality of this method remains in question due to the high costs associated with creating synthetic DNA, embedding data, and retrieving it.

Twist Bioscience, a company based in San Francisco, is at the forefront of DNA storage technology. According to CEO Emily Leproust, the price of DNA storage is currently around $1,000 per megabyte. To put this in perspective, a typical email attachment of 25 megabytes would cost approximately $25,000 — quite an extravagant expense for a simple email.

Subsection 1.1.1: Recent Advances in DNA Storage

Photo: DEA/A. Dagli Orti/Getty

In a significant breakthrough, European scientists have made strides toward more feasible DNA data storage. As detailed in the journal Nature Communications, the research team, led by Dr. Robert Grass at ETH Zurich, developed a "massively parallel" technique that enables large-scale production of DNA strands at a lower cost than traditional methods. This approach successfully encoded 52 pages of Mozart's sheet music — totaling 100 kilobytes — into 16,383 DNA sequences.

Section 1.2: Overcoming Challenges

Despite this advancement, the new method has a high error rate, complicating data retrieval. Nevertheless, the research team employed corrective algorithms that effectively reconstructed the stored information. While this approach may not be as refined as Twist's technology, it moves us closer to making DNA storage a viable option as our data generation continues to skyrocket.