Scientists have created synthetic fossils, which can store data by encoding it in DNA:
DNA has huge potential as a data storage medium, with just one gram able to hold nearly half a zettabyte (almost 500 billion gigabytes) of data. Given that DNA fragments recovered from fossilized boneshave been used to reconstruct the genome of animals that died hundreds of thousands of years ago, the molecule also shows promise for long-term data archiving. By contrast, traditional optical and magnetic storage devices are generally only reliable for storing data up to around half a century.
Despite this promise, there are still drawbacks to using DNA as a long-term storage medium. DNA decays over time,with DNA in bone having a typical half-life of around 500 years. However, this is strongly affected by factors such as temperature and moisture, as well as exposure to light and oxygen.
Now, researchers in Switzerland have taken inspiration from fossils to discover how DNA could be used to reliably store data for over two million years. They stored 83 kilobytes of data — containing the text fromthe Swiss Federal Charter of 1291 and the English translation of the Method of Archimedes — on DNA, which was subsequently encapsulated in silica to mimic the protective shell provided by fossilized bone.
The research is published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.