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Microsoft Buys Into DNA Data Storage (ieee.org)
the_newsbeagle writes: More than 2.5 exabytes of data is created every day, and some experts estimate that 90% of all data in the world today was created in the last two years. Clearly, storing all this data is becoming an issue. One idea is DNA data storage, in which digital files are converted into the genetic code of four nucleotides (As, Cs, Gs, and Ts). Microsoft just announced that it's testing out this idea, getting synthetic bio company Twist Bioscience to produce 10 million strands of DNA that encode some mystery file the company provided. Using DNA for long-term data storage is attractive because it's durable and efficient. For example, scientists can read the genome from a woolly mammoth hair dating from 20,000 years ago.
can't wait for the annual Windows 10 update via injection!
Looking at how they pushed Win10 so far, you do realize just what kind of injection it is going to be, right?
How long until they start checking people's DNA and say "we have data that looks like a section of your DNA. We have copyrighted it, and you can no longer reproduce it - not in offspring, and not in your own cells. You can either stop (by killing yourself) or take a monthly subscription to license it. Have a nice life or drop dead - your call."
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Symantec will go into the pharmaceutical business? ;)
If you read the article, it appears they propose preserving the DNA strands artificially.
The long-term stability of data encoded in DNA was reported in February 2015, in an article by researches from ETH Zurich. By adding redundancy via Reed–Solomon error correction coding and by encapsulating the DNA within silica glass spheres via Sol-gel chemistry, the researchers predict error-free information recovery after up to 1 million years at -18 C and 2000 years if stored at 10 C.
Other than a having certain coolness factor in using nature's own data encoding scheme, it seems like it would make a lot more sense to etch data into crystals or glass using lasers, or other such solid state data storage that's currently being researched - essentially bypassing the "natural" encoding and jumping straight to their proposed long-term storage medium as the storage method itself. But what the hell do I know...? It does sound like pretty interesting research, even if nothing practical ever comes of it. Early research often seems utterly impractical at first.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
Ancient mammoth DNA didn't persevere in casual ambient conditions. They were only able to retrieve genetic material because the animal's corpse had been preserved by permafrost. DNA storage of actual data would require cooling solutions an order of magnitude more intense than what is currently used to keep a data center running. Most people don't realize how much nucleic acid digesting enzymes are in our normal environment. A great deal of the sticky slimy residue generated copiously by our bodies are the chewed up DNA remnants of microbial organisms that our immune system keeps in check. This is to say nothing of the difficulty involved with reading/writing of said data. You DON'T want to go down that rabbit hole.
========== "Hello World" in my programming language of choice: ATG - LET THERE BE LIFE - TAG ==========
Actually what I would be more worried about is how long will it be before someone's computer file turns out encode into a real virus and we have some new, nasty disease on our hands simply because some holiday photo produces the right DNA sequence for a new variant of Ebola.
it seems like it would make a lot more sense to etch data into crystals or glass using lasers, or other such solid state data storage that's currently being researched
The DNA can store millions of times more data per unit volume. Each nucleotide (2 bits) is 0.33 nm, and they can be packed in 3D structures. Laser etching on sapphire is dozens of nm wide, and is inherently 2D.
It's a pretty common misconception that glass flows like a liquid
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
"90% of all data in the world today was created in the last two years"
And most of it will not be readable 100 years from now, nor will it be missed.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Don't "run" it? If ribosomes can even read it and successfully create proteins from the code that is. I think you need specific tags to tell them where to start and stop anyhow, so if those aren't in the DNA nothing happens.