It’s no secret that our DNA is unique in many ways, and one of those ways includes the ability to store huge amounts of data. Microsoft collaborated with the University of Washington (USA) to demonstrate fully automated storage of DNA data, which is an important step in technology development for research laboratories and commercial data centers.
The team’s researchers were able to successfully save the word “hello” into DNA fragments and then convert them back into digital data using an end-to-end automated system.
Experts were exploring ways to bridge the gap between the massive amount of data we deal with on a daily basis and find a device that can store that data. To fill the gap, experts produced molecular computing algorithms and technologies that could encode and retrieve data.
“Our ultimate goal is to put a system into production that, to the end user, looks a lot like any other cloud storage service: the bits are sent to a data center and stored there, and then they appear when the customer he loves them “, comments Karin Strauss, leader of the study published in the journal Nature . “To do that, we need to show that this is practical from an automation perspective.”
That is what inspired the researchers to develop fully automated DNA storage consisting of laboratory-generated DNA molecules. Also, the system can be encrypted before it is sent to a computer system for added security.
However, the researchers needed to find a way to make the system work as a commercial storage solution, and the first thing to do was to lower the cost of DNA synthesis and the sequencing process used to extract the information. . According to the researchers, new technological trends suggest that progress is already being made in that direction.
‘Eternal’ storage
If the solution is developed properly, DNA could last much longer than traditional storage drives, such as hard drives and solid-state drives, which will degrade in less than a decade. They modeled the original DNA contained in living creatures, noting that DNA persisted for thousands of years in mammoth tusks and in the bones of Earth’s first humans, so they should be relevant for a long time.
The software used can convert binary numbers of digital data into: A (adenine), G (guanine), C (cytosine) and T (thymine), which are the building blocks of DNA as we know it.
“We are definitely seeing the birth of a new type of computer system, in which molecules are used to store data and electronic components for control and processing. Putting them together has some really interesting possibilities for the future,” said Luis Ceze, professor. from UW Allen School.
What is the difference with traditional storage?
DNA data storage is very different compared to silicon-based computers because they need to use different liquids for the molecules to be in motion. Liquids, unlike electrons, move differently and need new engineering methods to put them into practice.
In the future, the team behind DNA data storage hopes to see the development of a simple end-to-end system that can automate laboratory experiments.
And is that the processing of the word “hello” lasted 21 hours , and considering that the information only occupied 5 bytes, there is still much to do. The good news is that this is just the beginning.
Referencia: Demonstration of End-to-End Automation of DNA Data Storage. Christopher N. Takahashi, Bichlien H. Nguyen, Karin Strauss & Luis Ceze. Scientific Reports volume 9, (2019) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41228-8
