The ever-present connectivity in our lives, and the data storage demands that come with it, is growing exponentially. The projected material supply for silicon-based memory technologies is unable to satisfy future demand, therefore, alternative memory materials are being explored in academia and industry1. DNA is analogous to a biological hard drive. It carries and transfers information with exceptional density, stability, and energy efficiency, making it a compelling alternative to current non-volatile information storage technologies. The Nucleic Acid Memory (NAM) Institute at Boise State exploits DNA as a programmable material to engineer emerging data storage technologies. Here we present our first prototype, digital Nucleic Acid Memory (dNAM), which spatially encodes and retrieves small datasets using only DNA as the material2. dNAM is made from DNA origami assembly technique, it is structurally characterized using Atomic Force Microcopy (AFM, Fig.1b) and it is read using Super Resolution Microscopy (SRM, Fig.1c). The origami structure serves as a breadboard where short dye-labelled DNA strands are the fluorescent imager probes (Fig.1a). These probes transiently hybridize with short protruding single strands periodically positioned on the origami design implementing the DNA PAINT technique on its surface. Every time a hybridization event occurs, a blinking signal is recorded. Associating the blinking signal to a “1” and no signal to a “0”, dNAM resembles a molecular version of Lite-Brite toy where distinct patterns of pegs encode different digital data. Processing the SRM reading with a custom error-correction algorithm, dNAM provides an areal data density of 330 Gbit/cm2 and is able to use a subset of origami to retrieve the encoded message 100% of the time. Unlike other approaches to DNA-based data storage, reading dNAM does not require DNA sequencing and so, the synthesis of new custom DNA strands every time new data is encoded, reducing significantly the costs and chemical waste. As such, this research can provide a valuable path to DNA data storage applications for the next-generation of digital memory materials.
Nucleic Acid Memory: Super Resolution Microscopy Enhances Novel Approach to DNA data storage
- DNA as data storage material
- Data density achievable using DNA
- Long term data storage
The ever-present connectivity in our lives, and the data storage demands that come with it, is growing exponentially. The projected material supply for silicon-based memory technologies is unable to satisfy future demand, therefore, alternative memory materials are being explored in academia and industry1. DNA is analogous to a biological hard drive. It carries and transfers information with exceptional density, stability, and energy efficiency, making it a compelling alternative to current non-volatile information storage technologies. The Nucleic Acid Memory (NAM) Institute at Boise State exploits DNA as a programmable material to engineer emerging data storage technologies. Here we present our first prototype, digital Nucleic Acid Memory (dNAM), which spatially encodes and retrieves small datasets using only DNA as the material2. dNAM is made from DNA origami assembly technique, it is structurally characterized using Atomic Force Microcopy (AFM, Fig.1b) and it is read using Super Resolution Microscopy (SRM, Fig.1c). The origami structure serves as a breadboard where short dye-labelled DNA strands are the fluorescent imager probes (Fig.1a). These probes transiently hybridize with short protruding single strands periodically positioned on the origami design implementing the DNA PAINT technique on its surface. Every time a hybridization event occurs, a blinking signal is recorded. Associating the blinking signal to a “1” and no signal to a “0”, dNAM resembles a molecular version of Lite-Brite toy where distinct patterns of pegs encode different digital data. Processing the SRM reading with a custom error-correction algorithm, dNAM provides an areal data density of 330 Gbit/cm2 and is able to use a subset of origami to retrieve the encoded message 100% of the time. Unlike other approaches to DNA-based data storage, reading dNAM does not require DNA sequencing and so, the synthesis of new custom DNA strands every time new data is encoded, reducing significantly the costs and chemical waste. As such, this research can provide a valuable path to DNA data storage applications for the next-generation of digital memory materials.
- DNA as data storage material
- Data density achievable using DNA
- Long term data storage
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The industry needs a new storage medium that is more dense, durable, sustainable, and cost effective to cope with the expected future growth of archival data.
DNA data storage will dramatically effect the way organizations think about data retention, data protection, and archival by providing capacity density and longevity several orders of magnitude bey
Using synthetic DNA for data storage implies two complex steps of digital data processing, namely Encoding and Decoding, which are very different from what we are used to in the conventional Flash
- Rino MicheloniDNAalgo
Synthetic DNA-based data storage is a major attraction due to the possibility of storage over long periods.
- Marília MenossiLenovo/IPT
DNA molecules offer an alternative to storage information at extremely high spatial density.
- Adriano Galindo LealLenovo/IPT
To wrap up the DNA Data Storage track, Dave Landsman, along with session presenters and others from the DNA Data Storage Alliance, will host an open and informal Q&A.
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