Data storage has spectacularly advanced in recent decades. From traditional hard drives and magnetic tapes, we have passed to futuristic projects such as diamond optical discs.
Now, a new experiment promises to completely revolutionize the way we keep our files: A DNA tape capable of containing hundreds of petabytes.
The project has been developed by researchers at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTCH) and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJU), and is based on an idea as ingenious as nostalgic: A tape inspired by the old cassettes of the 80s, but that, instead of using magnetic tape, uses synthetic DNA as a storage medium.
According to scientists, this technology could achieve a capacity to Up to 362 Petabytesmore than enough to save a whole Steam library and much more.
The big difference against previous attempts is in the use of millions of bars microcodes distributed throughout the tape, which act as unique directions.
Thanks to this, The system can locate specific files without traveling all the contentwhich solves one of the biggest storage problems in DNA: the slowness in data recovery.
In addition, the tape is covered with a protective crystalline layer that prevents environmental degradation. According to the researchers, It could last thousands of years in controlled conditions, and even more than 300 years at room temperaturebecoming an ideal option to keep historical or heritage files.
At the moment, it is just a proof of concept: The researchers managed to write 156.6 kb of data, taking more than two and a half hours to complete the reading.
Although they estimate that they could reduce the process to about 47 minutes, it is still an elevated time compared to other current technologies.
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