Microsoft's research division is developing a technology that allows for the storage of digital information in synthetic genetic material . A project that once seemed like something from the distant future is now becoming a reality through Twist Bioscience, the company that conceived the original idea and with whom Microsoft is collaborating.
Twist Bioscience is a young company, the offshoot of a startup , focused on the manufacture and use of synthetic DNA. The University of Washington is also involved in this research, and together they plan to store millions of data points in a space just a few microns in size.
The aim of this approach is twofold. On the one hand, DNA coding would allow a vast amount of information to be stored in a remarkably small space—smaller than the size of a cell. Furthermore, this type of storage medium could overcome the finite lifespan of current storage media , since genetic material has an estimated lifespan of thousands of years.
Regarding the amount of data that can be stored in genes, according to university scientists it would be about 700 terabytes in just one gram , but in the words of the CEO of Twist Bioscience: " With the use of DNA, all the knowledge of the planet could fit inside the trunk of a car ."
The production cost using this system is not particularly expensive , as the treatment of genes has decreased considerably thanks to the use of large sequencers that have allowed us to go from $2.700 billion to trace a single complete human genome in 2003 to the present day, where there is the option of having your own genome on your mobile phone for less than $1.000.
At the moment, Microsoft's interest in storing such a large amount of information within tiny strands of DNA is unknown, but based on the characteristics we've described, it seems likely to be for a long time. Although the project is still in an early stage of development and is commercially viable, it won't be for several years before we see any results.
Furthermore, Twist Bioscience has recently acquired another small startup that will allow it to have everything it needs to build its own independent synthetic DNA manufacturing platform.