Artificial Amber Preserves DNA for Long-Term Data Storage

DNA is a much denser data storage medium than anything humans can design, but it is fragile. “Scientists have now mimicked nature by creating artificial amber to protect DNA for long-term data storage.”

A single gram of DNA can hold up to 215 petabytes (215 million GB) of data, making it possible to store the entire internet in a shoebox. Thus, scientists have been experimenting with writing, reading, and protecting data stored in DNA.

Development of Artificial Amber

MIT scientists have developed artificial amber, a thermoset material made of polymers that become a glassy solid when heated and degrade on demand with certain chemicals. The specific mix of monomers used pulls DNA into spherical complexes with a water-repelling outer layer, protecting it from moisture. The mixture is then heated to set it into a glass-like block, preserving the DNA inside.

To retrieve the data, scientists expose the material to cysteamine, which breaks down the thermoset. Then, they add SDS detergent to separate the DNA without damaging it. This technique, called Thermoset-REinforced Xeropreservation (T-REX), has successfully stored DNA sequences at temperatures up to 75 °C (167 °F), including the Emancipation Proclamation, the MIT logo, an entire human genome, and the Jurassic Park theme music, without errors.

Future Implications

“Freezing DNA is the number one way to preserve it, but it’s costly, and it’s not scalable,” said James Banal, co-senior author of the study. “I think our new preservation method is going to be a technology that may drive the future of storing digital information on DNA.”

While T-REX currently takes a few hours to write data and set it in the thermoset material, the process could be optimized. Although DNA-based hard drives for consumer use are unlikely, artificial amber might be suitable for long-term archival data storage.

Read the Original Article on: New Atlas

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