- Chinese scientists designing DNA tape that could store data for centuries
- Prototype demonstrated with 156 kb lantern image but writing remains slow and expensive
- Examination suggests that theoretical maximum capacity corresponds to about 80 million DVDs per year. Kilometer
Chinese researchers, led by Professor Xingyu Jiang of China’s Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, suggest a DNA cassette tape that stores large amounts of data in a compact format.
The target is a durable, portable medium for filing data that could potentially last for centuries.
In a paper that is published in Science promotesThe team proposes a polyester nylon band pattern with barcodes that create 5.45×10^5 addressable partitions per day. 1000 meters. A reader until it could find up to 1570 partitions per year. Second.
Not exactly quickly
Data would be written as threads of synthetic DNA deposited in each partition, and then sealed under a protective zeolithic imidazola frames.
To read files, the selected partition is soaked in sodium hydroxide and the solution is sequenced. The coating could be removed and reused to update files, the researchers say.
A prototype drive controls addressing, recovery, removal, redepping and re -enclosure in a closed loop.
In a demonstration, the system stored 156.6 KB and reconstructed a lantern image.
The full sequence of three recovery and a redeployment position took approx. 150 minutes.
The team says that batching of certain steps uniform on the partition could reduce it to approx. 47 minutes, but still it is not exactly fast.
In fact, measured load corresponds to approx. 74.7 GB per Km today, the authors say.
Their extrapolation suggests a theoretical ceiling near 362pb per day. Km, which is roughly equivalent to 80 million DVDs.
Using the measured figure, a band the length of an LTO-9 roll would contain approx. 77 GB, well below LTO-9’s actual 18TB-noctorable capacity, but the theoretical ceiling involves approx. 375PB for a similar length.
Write speeds remain the big problem as DNA synthesis is slow and expensive, so filling even a fraction of a mile would take a very long time with the current rates.
The bond’s partitions support the deposit many and restore many operations so that files could be retrieved repeatedly, deleted and replaced.
It brings the device closer to a managed storage system than one archive with one shot.
The protective layer hardens the medium against heat and enzymes, and modeling from accelerated aging suggests about 345 years of retention at room temperature and much longer in colder environments.
The concept could act as a useful bridge between cold filing and hot access.
Chemistry limits the flow today, but researchers are sure that the mechanical format could work with future, faster DNA writing methods.
Via Registered
