Storing Data in the Language of Life
Atlas Eon 100 encodes data into DNA for long-term archiving, and can store 60 petabytes in 60 cubic inches.
The density of digital storage media, such as hard disks, has increased tremendously in the past few decades. Not all that long ago, it took a refrigerator-sized system to store a few megabytes of data; now, we can carry terabytes of storage around in our pockets. But despite these successes, there may be an even better path forward. After all, high-density digital storage existed long before the computer age. To find it, you need look no further than inside your own cells.
Inside each cell in your body, there is a tightly-coiled bundle of DNA just a few microns in length. Unstretched, this strand of DNA would extend to over six feet. However, due to its extreme level of compression, a single gram of DNA can store over 215 petabytes of data in its quaternary language.
Sounds like a pretty nice option for general-purpose data storage, doesn’t it? Atlas Data Storage thinks so, which is why they have developed their Atlas Eon 100 scalable DNA data storage service. By storing your data in DNA, 60 petabytes can be compressed into 60 cubic inches. And because of DNA’s natural durability, that data will still be available long after it has been forgotten about.
Before you rush to buy your own DNA storage solution, it is important to understand what Atlas Eon 100 is and isn’t. It is a long-term data storage solution, but it is not a random access digital device that you can connect to a traditional computer. The basic idea is that you send the company your data, then they synthesize DNA strands that represent it in the form of nucleic acids. Once the data is synthesized, it cannot be changed.
These strands of DNA are then dehydrated and stored under appropriate conditions. The data is all there when needed, but reading it out requires the use of complex and expensive DNA sequencing instruments. As such, it is hardly a replacement for disk drives — but it could be a good alternative to tape backups. The data density of Atlas Eon 100 is about 1,000 times greater than LTO-10 tape, and, in theory, the DNA should safely store the data for much longer as well.
Atlas Eon 100 is definitely for very special use cases at this point, but perhaps future advances will ultimately bring DNA-based storage to every desktop.