Harvard cracks DNA storage, crams 700 terabytes of data into a single gram

[r3volution]

A bioengineer and geneticist at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have successfully stored 5.5 petabits of data — around 700 terabytes — in a single gram of DNA, smashing the previous DNA data density record by a thousand times.

The work, carried out by George Church and Sri Kosuri, basically treats DNA as just another digital storage device. Instead of binary data being encoded as magnetic regions on a hard drive platter, strands of DNA that store 96 bits are synthesized, with each of the bases (TGAC) representing a binary value (T and G = 1, A and C = 0).

To read the data stored in DNA, you simply sequence it — just as if you were sequencing the human genome — and convert each of the TGAC bases back into binary. To aid with sequencing, each strand of DNA has a 19-bit address block at the start (the red bits in the image below) — so a whole vat of DNA can be sequenced out of order, and then sorted into usable data using the addresses.



Scientists have been eyeing up DNA as a potential storage medium for a long time, for three very good reasons: It’s incredibly dense (you can store one bit per base, and a base is only a few atoms large); it’s volumetric (beaker) rather than planar (hard disk); and it’s incredibly stable — where other bleeding-edge storage mediums need to be kept in sub-zero vacuums, DNA can survive for hundreds of thousands of years in a box in your garage.

It is only with recent advances in microfluidics and labs-on-a-chip that synthesizing and sequencing DNA has become an everyday task, though. While it took years for the original Human Genome Project to analyze a single human genome (some 3 billion DNA base pairs), modern lab equipment with microfluidic chips can do it in hours. Now this isn’t to say that Church and Kosuri’s DNA storage is fast — but it’s fast enough for very-long-term archival.

Just think about it for a moment: One gram of DNA can store 700 terabytes of data. That’s 14,000 50-gigabyte Blu-ray discs… in a droplet of DNA that would fit on the tip of your pinky. To store the same kind of data on hard drives — the densest storage medium in use today — you’d need 233 3TB drives, weighing a total of 151 kilos. In Church and Kosuri’s case, they have successfully stored around 700 kilobytes of data in DNA — Church’s latest book, in fact — and proceeded to make 70 billion copies (which they claim, jokingly, makes it the best-selling book of all time!) totaling 44 petabytes of data stored.

Looking forward, they foresee a world where biological storage would allow us to record anything and everything without reservation. Today, we wouldn’t dream of blanketing every square meter of Earth with cameras, and recording every moment for all eternity/human posterity — we simply don’t have the storage capacity. There is a reason that backed up data is usually only kept for a few weeks or months — it just isn’t feasible to have warehouses full of hard drives, which could fail at any time. If the entirety of human knowledge — every book, uttered word, and funny cat video — can be stored in a few hundred kilos of DNA, though… well, it might just be possible to record everything (hello, police state!)

It’s also worth noting that it’s possible to store data in the DNA of living cells — though only for a short time. Storing data in your skin would be a fantastic way of transferring data securely…http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/134672-harvard-cracks-dna-storage-crams-700-terabytes-of-data-into-a-single-gram

[youngbuck]

That's pretty amazing. The possibilities of this are certainly a double edged sword.

[Indy Vidual]

One gram of DNA can store 700 terabytes of data. That’s 14,000 50-gigabyte Blu-ray discs… in a droplet of DNA that would fit on the tip of your pinky.

[r3volution]

im still trying to wrap my head around the implications of this .

[RonRules]

Craig Venter was bragging about bacteria that he designed, which incorporated their own e-mail addresses in the DNA.

[Anti Federalist]

im still trying to wrap my head around the implications of this .

As long as the current regime is running the show globally, nothing good.

[Natural Citizen]

That's pretty amazing. The possibilities of this are certainly a double edged sword.

Of course this is itself a mere possibility discovered in a much bigger phenomenon as folks wake up to it.

[Aratus]

cyborgs, cyborgs, cyborgs, cyborgs, cyborgs...
rather than just mere "i,Robot" A.I sapience...
think of the future degrees of emotional I.Q...

[QuickZ06]

HOLY CRAP!

[ronpaulfollower999]

As long as the current regime is running the show globally, nothing good.

First thing I thought of:

http://share.banoosh.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/545140_408503805854469_1477308589_n.jpg

[ghengis86]

First thing I thought of:

http://share.banoosh.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/545140_408503805854469_1477308589_n.jpg

Figures it would be a bank advert. Or maybe it's for intimidation. Or a warning.

[specsaregood]

im still trying to wrap my head around the implications of this .

Now you know why the ancient aliens created us. we are all just data storage devices for our alien overlords.

[idiom]

Now you know why the ancient aliens created us. we are all just data storage devices for our alien overlords.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aboZctrHfK8

[jmdrake]

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/134672-harvard-cracks-dna-storage-crams-700-terabytes-of-data-into-a-single-gram

Well of course you know I'd zero in on this part of the article:

Looking forward, they foresee a world where biological storage would allow us to record anything and everything without reservation. Today, we wouldn’t dream of blanketing every square meter of Earth with cameras, and recording every moment for all eternity/human posterity — we simply don’t have the storage capacity.

[Icymudpuppy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNUwbWDJbg

[soulcyon]

What if millions of years ago, an alternate species ruled this planet and discovered "DNA" and actually created life as we know it...

[Anti Federalist]

What if millions of years ago, an alternate species ruled this planet and discovered "DNA" and actually created life as we know it...

Some folks around here would claim you were crazy for even considering the possibility.

[r3volution]

Well of course you know I'd zero in on this part of the article:

Looking forward, they foresee a world where biological storage would allow us to record anything and everything without reservation. Today, we wouldn’t dream of blanketing every square meter of Earth with cameras, and recording every moment for all eternity/human posterity — we simply don’t have the storage capacity. too easy . fwd it to the dynamic duo , ill bet they can make a whole article based on that sentence and get it published "somewhere" ..

[r3volution]

Some folks around here would claim you were crazy for even considering the possibility. like the ones that think god speaks to them .

[Anti Federalist]

like the ones that think god speaks to them .

God has never spoken to anybody, ever?

[phill4paul]

Guess they government is gonna need this...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/federal-charges-dropped-against-fugitive-doctor-because-too-184830159.html



The federal government has more than 400,000 pages of evidence against fugitive Miami doctor Armando Angulo, taking up some two terabytes of digital space. On the surface, it sounds like a pretty solid case. But at the urging of prosecutors, charges were dropped against the doctor because the evidence is simply taking up too much space on government servers.

[PaulConventionWV]

Some folks around here would claim you were crazy for even considering the possibility.

I am one of those folks.

[Seth]

Guess they government is gonna need this...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/federal-charges-dropped-against-fugitive-doctor-because-too-184830159.html


.

So in the comments section everyone is asking why the government can't just spend a few hundred dollars to add more storage. Thought I'd share this golden reply that gave me a good laugh:


You do not understand how govt works.

To add space they need a consultant at $400 per hour. Then they have to do feasibility studies and then after that map out power usage statistic and data center logistics. This alone will probably cost upwards of $150,000 and a few months of time.

Once this is done they have to put the contract out for bid. Since they cannot just buy something off the shelf, this will take a bit of time as well and likely involve several Senators that will add some pork to the project which will add to the costs. By now the cost is upwards of $10 million but is stalled in committee.

Finally they break gridlock by awarding it to an existing supplier like Raytheon systems who can assign several top engineers to manage the install and custom design the hardware at a total cost of $47,000,000.

BUT - there will be delays and cost overruns. After all, a design like this is apt to have some things which were unexpected, including a full rework of the networking interlink architecture and the use of custom designed optical networking cables and protocols.

So after 3 budget increases and 1 year the final tally is $72.345,766.22

This is why there is no money.

[Nickels]

Well of course you know I'd zero in on this part of the article:

Looking forward, they foresee a world where biological storage would allow us to record anything and everything without reservation. Today, we wouldn’t dream of blanketing every square meter of Earth with cameras, and recording every moment for all eternity/human posterity — we simply don’t have the storage capacity.

just because they shown it was physically possible, does not mean it is economically viable or sustainable. does the time and energy used to cram 700T into one gram, outweigh the size and weight saved by alternative means?

[tangent4ronpaul]

I had a couple of thoughts about this from an Intelligence perspective...


There is a reason that backed up data is usually only kept for a few weeks or months — it just isn’t feasible to have warehouses full of hard drives, which could fail at any time.

There has got to be some NSA bean counter slapping his head and saying "WOW! - I could have saved a bunch of money by switching to DNA!

I'm referring to the UT data center...


It’s also worth noting that it’s possible to store data in the DNA of living cells — though only for a short time. Storing data in your skin would be a fantastic way of transferring data securely…

If you've ever been near a US intelligence facility, they always have signs on the fences stating "US GVMT Property/Facility, NO TRESPASSING, followed by a long and broad list of things that are banned on the grounds - basically any form of recording media, including talking stuffed animals and similarly greeting cards that blare out "Happy Birthday" when they are opened. It Always ends with the words "Use of Lethal Force Authorized".

With this new development, it looks like they will have to ban people from said facilities.

This could be a problem... :rolleyes:

-t

[Nickels]

If you've ever been near a US intelligence facility, they always have signs on the fences stating "US GVMT Property/Facility, NO TRESPASSING, followed by a long and broad list of things that are banned on the grounds - basically any form of recording media, including talking stuffed animals and similarly greeting cards that blare out "Happy Birthday" when they are opened. It Always ends with the words "Use of Lethal Force Authorized".

With this new development, it looks like they will have to ban people from said facilities.

This could be a problem... :rolleyes:

-t

wouldn't it be easier to say "no personal items allowed, subject to strip search"?

[idiom]

wouldn't it be easier to say "no personal items allowed, subject to strip search"?

We will need you to remove your skin breifly so that is can be passed through our scanners. Thank you for your co-operation in defeating the terrorists. Have a nice day.

[UWDude]

wow. Information stored. Big deal. The problem is knowing where to go to access the information.

Basically, this sound like a library with out a card catalog or librarian.

[jmdrake]

just because they shown it was physically possible, does not mean it is economically viable or sustainable. does the time and energy used to cram 700T into one gram, outweigh the size and weight saved by alternative means?

Isn't the fact that someone even wishes he could blanket every square meter of Earth with security cameras disturbing enough? I'm not saying it's feasible with this technology or that it ever would be feasible. I just wonder what kind of sick freak would want to blanket the entire earth with cameras.

[Sematary]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNUwbWDJbg

You realize that Johnny could only hold 160 GB and seriously overloaded when they crammed 320 gb in there? 700 TB? HOLY CRAP? Think of all the movies and tv shows you could download. ;-)

[Sematary]

Guess they government is gonna need this...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/federal-charges-dropped-against-fugitive-doctor-because-too-184830159.html


.

I'm calling "CRAP - LOAD OF". 2 TB of space is NOTHING! I have more than double that just for my personal computer.

[Sematary]

just because they shown it was physically possible, does not mean it is economically viable or sustainable. does the time and energy used to cram 700T into one gram, outweigh the size and weight saved by alternative means?

Uh, ya.

[ClydeCoulter]

Well, there is also speed, maybe I missed it but that's pretty important.
And, before we get all, "My god we rule the universe". It already existed, we just "found" it. Go looking people. The wasps are your friend.

[Natural Citizen]

Well, there is also speed, maybe I missed it but that's pretty important.
And, before we get all, "My god we rule the universe". It already existed, we just "found" it. Go looking people. The wasps are your friend.

We found it? Or we realized our connection to it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8g4d-rnhuSg)?

[r3volution]

Scientists Convert A 53,000-Word Book Into DNA

http://usahitman.com/scwbid/

i have no idea if this source is reliable . i just found this floating around on the interwebs .

[youngbuck]

Perhaps when they combine this DNA tech with quantum computing, we'll really see its capabilities, for better or for worse.

[jmdrake]

Scientists Convert A 53,000-Word Book Into DNA

http://usahitman.com/scwbid/

i have no idea if this source is reliable . i just found this floating around on the interwebs .

Thanks for pointing this. It's useful information. Oh yeah, and you just dug up a new conspiracy theory blog I hadn't read before. ;)

http://usahitman.com/oorspuc/

[r3volution]

Thanks for pointing this. It's useful information. Oh yeah, and you just dug up a new conspiracy theory blog I hadn't read before. ;)

http://usahitman.com/oorspuc/ figured that when i seen the tags for other story's at the bottom of the page . that is why i posted it in this thread instead of making a new 1 . the fact that i found it before you means you need to step your game up or the nwo will surely win ;)