Single DNA molecule to store digital information for millions of year

Modern technology has earned us numerous breakthroughs, including digital information systems and storage, making our day to day tasks easier. However, drives we use for information technology can only last from a couple of years to few decades, which is limiting the capability of data being used and transferred in the long run. However, scientists are currently developing a more stable and longterm solution - storing digital technology into a smaller, lighter and error-proof DNA molecule.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - "We will show how we can use modern chemical and information engineering tools for the safeguarding of actual digital information in the form of DNA," said researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich during the American Chemical Society meeting in Boston.

According to the report by The Independent UK, Dr. Robert Grass and his colleagues have developed a way of encapsulating a single DNA molecule, which is as much as making a fossilized form of information storage. They have also developed a mathematical algorithm for less errors in deciphering data.

Data to be stored in this innovation will be written on genetic code, based on the sequences of four chemical building blocks, the nucleotides A, C, T and G, wrote Steve Connor for the Independent.

"A little after the discovery of the double helix architecture of DNA, people figured out that the coding language of nature is very similar to the binary language we use in computers. On a hard drive, we use zeros and ones to represent data, and in DNA we have four nucleotides, A, C, T and G," explained Grass.

Although they assure the data will be decoded back to the original codes without errors, they still have to work on labeling specific areas in the drop, which will make information retrieval fast and easy.   

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