What is DNA Data Storage and How DNA Digital Data Storage Works?

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a material that stores information in life. DNA molecules have genetic blueprints for living cells and organisms. 

DNA can be used for digital data storage. In the process of DNA digital data storage, binary data is encoded and decoded to and from synthesized strands of DNA, converting DNA into a new form of information technology.

DNA digital data storage

What is DNA Digital Data Storage and How does DNA Data Storage Work?

What is DNA Data Storage?

DNA data storage is the process of encoding and decoding binary data to and from DNA synthesis strands.

DNA digital data storage process includes recording, storing, and retrieving information on DNA molecules.

In nature, DNA molecules have genetic blueprints for living cells and organisms. 

DNA data storage has many advantages for storing digital data and is a great deal. Partially, that's because we are based on DNA and any research in the manipulation of that molecule will normally pay a dividend for medicine and biology - but to a lesser extent, this is also because the world's richest and powerful corporations are getting discouraged and frustrated over cost estimates in future data storage. 

Although DNA data storage has recently become a hot topic, this is not the idea of the modern-day. In fact, its origins date back to 1964-65, when Mikhail Neiman, a Soviet physicist, published his works in the journal Radiotehnika, regarding the use of DNA as a digital data storage unit.

Mr. Mikhail Neiman wrote about general ideas of the possibility of recording, storing and retrieving information on DNA molecules. 

This time, Facebook, Apple, Google, the US government, and much more are stunning investments in storage. But even these mega-projects can be indispensable for so long; they are creating a lot of data to maintain magnetic storage, without a major unexpected change in technology. 

This is the reason why a company like Microsoft recently decided to invest in the prospect of information storage with a complete technique: Biotech. This software may seem off-brand for giant, but with the help of academics to take on nuclear biology, surprising results have emerged.

 The team was able to store and remember digital data with incredible storage density.

To store a binary digital file as DNA, different bits (binary digits) 1, 0 are converted into letters A, C, G, and T. These letters represent the four main compounds in DNA: A for adenine, C for cytosine, G for guanine, and T for thymine. 

The physical storage medium is a synthetic DNA molecule, in which the compounds of these four compounds are included in the sequence of bits in the digital file sequence. 

To recover data, the sequence representing the DNA molecule is decoded back into the original sequence of A, C, G, and T bits to1 and 0.

How DNA Digital Data Storage Works?

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - which consists of long chains of nucleotides A, T, C, and G - is a material that stores information in life. Data can be stored in the sequence of these letters.

In the process of DNA digital data storage, binary data is encoded and decoded to and from synthesized strands of DNA, converting DNA into a new form of information technology.

DNA storage requires cutting-edge technologies in data compression and security so that a sequence can be designed and the potential of DNA and redundant of DNA can be realized in order to improve the accuracy of the recovered information in the line. 

Very few technologies on display here are new because the most important parts of the system are in existence for a long time from mankind.

After determining the order in which the letter should go, the DNA sequences are the letters produced by the letter with chemical reactions. 

These reactions are operated by the pieces of equipment which take the A, C, G, and T bottles and mix them in a liquid solution with other chemicals to control the reactions that specify the sequence of physical DNA strands. 

This process brings another advantage of DNA storage: backup copies. Instead of creating a strand at a time, chemical reactions create many similar strands at the same time to make several copies of the next strand in the series. 

Once the DNA strand is formed, we need to protect them from damage to humidity and light. So we dry them and put them in a container, which keeps them cool and blocks water and light. But archived data is useful only when we can retrieve them later.

However, collecting and storing information in DNA is different from computer RAM in some important ways. 

The most notable thing is speed; RAM makes it part of it that its easy accessibility system is also an instant access system, so that the computer may require and hold the data on immediate notice, and it can be made available from time to time. 

On the other hand, DNA is quite hard and slow compared to conventional computer transistors, which means that in terms of speed of access it really is like a low RAM compared to your spinning magnetic hard-drive or average computer SSD.

Why is DNA Digital Data Storage So Important?

DNA data storage is extremely important for two main reasons:

(1) Conventional data collection methods may not be able to maintain the current volume of data generated. 

At present, conventional storage methods, such as solid-state and optical drives, will be anywhere between three months and three years, depending on the quality of the device and the level of usage. 

Solid-state drives, due to lack of moving parts, are often much longer than optical drives. To make sure that your data is stored safely for a few years, there are some conditions that can be followed before transferring your data to a new drive.

(2) A strand of DNA can last up to millions of years so that the stored data is longer than any other type of data storage. 

Based on current data rates of data generation, humanity can potentially generate 16 trillion gigabytes of data within the next year, with which this number is increasing rapidly in the next few years. It has 2.5 quintillion bytes of data that are produced every day.

On the other hand, DNA can be made up to one million years under optimal conditions. Scientists have found practical specimens of DNA in the snowy landscape like Greenland, which reaches 800,000 years ago. They are trying to accomplish this, and big successes in the field of DNA data storage are underway.