DNA DATA STORAGE
GOOD OR BAD?
Thomas Tyrrell
Will Combs

With the growth of the amount of data that is now being stored, the idea behind storing that data in DNA is a fascinating one. Companies, governments and universities face an enormous challenge storing the ever-growing flood of digitized information, the videos, books, movies and songs sent over the Internet.
Some researchers have looked for answers in biology. In recent years, they have found ways to encode trademarks in cells and store pieces of music in the genetic code of micro-organisms.
Many movies have explored the human DNA as both an advantage and a disadvantage. Some might say that storing information in our DNA is a bad thing. But in my opinion the advantages are too great to ignore. This will open up an entirely new world for human evolution. Being able to store personal data in your own DNA will increase security levels to an unprecedented level. And with the flow of information these days the need for this security is at an all time high.
The first bits of digital information were stored in DNA in 1988. However, it was impractical, both difficult and expensive. Even as recently as 2012, costs and times for reading and writing were only practical for century-scale archives. The latest development makes storing data on a 50-year timescale feasible, and archives for shorter timescales could become cost effective within a decade.
A team of researchers headed by Nick Goldman and Ewan Birney at the European Bioinformatics Institute of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-EBI) has dramatically demonstrated the potential of the technique to store and transport human-made data. Their data included some well-chosen iconic elements: Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, an audio excerpt from Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, Watson and Crick's classic paper on the structure of DNA, and a color photograph of the European Bioinformatics Institute.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Nick Goldman said, "All we're doing is adapting what nature has hit upon—a very good way of storing information." Archiving digital data is one of the computer world’s great problems. Currently, the amount of data in the world is doubling every two years. By 2020, it is estimated that this will amount to 40 trillion gigabytes of digital information. Alongside this, however, the amount of data that can be stored in a given space has also increased. In 2007, the highest information density surpassed 1 trillion bits of information per square inch. Storage is a problem, but a manageable one.
DNA molecules are natural vehicles for digital information. They consist of four chemicals connected end-to-end like characters of an alphabet to form long strings similar to a line of text. DNA molecules are even more similar to the sequences of zeroes and ones that digital computers use to represent information.
Among today's data-storage devices, magnetic tapes can degrade within a decade, while hard disks are expensive and need a constant supply of electricity to hold their information, creating huge need for power for the "data farms" behind cloud computing. A key advantage of DNA data storage is that electricity is not required. Another advantage is genetically encoded information could store, encrypt and secure data better than any technology currently available.
But the question remains-Is it a good idea? As I stated before, I think the advantages are too great to ignore. DNA has substantial advantages over both printed text and electronic media. For one thing, it can remain stable for long periods of time with a minimum of care. Intact DNA has been extracted from bones (and other organic matter) tens of thousands of years old, and its sequence reconstructed with as much detail as if it had come directly from a living organism.
Another advantage of DNA over electronic media is that it requires no power supply to maintain its integrity, which makes it easy to transport and store, and potentially less vulnerable to technological failure. Perhaps the greatest advantage of DNA as a storage medium is its minuteness. For example, EMBL-EBI's official press release claims that more than 100 million hours of high-definition video could be stored in roughly a cup of DNA.
The great potential to archive large quantities of data in DNA is a new opportunity in man’s understanding of nature. For the first time since mankind has been recording discoveries about the natural world, we have the capability to preserve the data easily for generations, ensuring all the current culture of humanity can be appreciated by future humans.

Anthony, S. (2012, August 17). Harvard cracks DNA storage, crams 700 terabytes of data into a single gram. Retrieved July 31, 2013, from www.extremetech.com: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/134672-harvard-cracks-dna-storage-crams-700-terabytes-of-data-into-a-single-gram
Brennan, M. (2013, January 27). Scientists successfully store data in DNA. Retrieved July 31, 2013, from www.earthsky.org: http://earthsky.org/human-world/scientists-successfully-store-data-in-dna
Service, R. F. (2013, January 24). Half a Million DVDs of Data Stored in Gram of DNA. Retrieved July 31, 2013, from www.wired.com: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/dna-data-storage-2/ ice, 2013)