It seems like 6 or 7 years ago there was research into new forms of storage, using crystals or DNA that promised ultra high density storage. I know the read/write speed was not very fast, but I thought by now there would be more progress in the area. Apparently in 2021 there was a team that got a 16GB file stored in DNA. In the last month there’s some company (Biomemory) that lets you store 1KB of data into DNA for $1,000, but if you want to read it, you have to send it to them. I don’t understand why you would use that today.

I wonder if it will ever be viable for us to have DNA readers/writers… but I also wonder if there are other new types of data storage coming up that might be just as good.

If you know anything about the DNA research or other new storage forms, what do you think is the most promising one?

  • hazeebabee@slrpnk.net
    1·
    11 months ago

    Im most excited about the potential for crystal based storage. Right now there is work being done to etch silica glass internally, allowing for incredibly long term preservation and durability. It can even be rewritten, though the tech is definetly best for achival purposes and is being pursued primarily by movie companies wanting high quality storage.

    Heres a video discussing it more in deapth: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6CzHsibqpIs

    DNA also sounds interesting, though it doesnt seem like a good way of preserving data long term. DNA is very fragile, and seems like an odd route to take for long term archiving.