Asimov Press unveils a book written with DNA. It is the first of its kind to be marketed in both conventional physical form and in a nucleic acid capsule. One more step forward in the generalization of this storage method.
In a world where more and more data circulates, the question of their storage becomes central. We will soon no longer be able to make do with the usual media, which consume energy and whose lifespan is not particularly long. This is why research is focused on creating new systems, such as a memory crystal capable of storing 360 TB of data for eternity, no less.
Another solution being considered involves something that naturally stores information: theADN. It has the good taste of being 1,000 times more compact than a hard drive and display unfailing endurance. For the moment, it is an expensive technique far from being generalizable. But the publishing company Asimov Press intends to demonstrate that this is not inevitable. She has in fact just announced the arrival of a book written from cover to cover with DNA.
You can buy a book in the form of DNA, its price is affordable
It is not the first of its kind. George Church Ed Regis published one in 2012, Regenesisand a few others have followed since. What changes here is the method used. Usually, storing information in the form of DNA is done by converting the binary code of a digital file (1s and 0s) into A, C, G and T, the “building blocks” that constitute the DNA. It is then necessary to synthesize the strands letter by letter using chemical processes.
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Instead, the specialist company Catalog created a kind of DNA alphabetwhere each piece can be combined with others to form pieces of data. Like letters joined together give words. The big advantage is being able to then assemble everything in the order you want, without having to start from scratch each time. “This is a case where you encode something in DNA once and you can create as many replicas as you want using the tools of molecular biology“, summarizes David Turek, director of technology at Catalog.
Soon libraries full of DNA capsules? We're getting closer
Once encoding is complete, DNA molecules are powdered, dried and placed in a stainless steel capsule. Inside, no oxygen and no humidity, which ensures that data will remain accessible for thousands of years. Decoding is done using a machine which restores the DNA sequence, therefore a sequence of A, C, G and T. You obtain the latter at the same time as the book if you place an order.
-You might think that obtaining such a “book” would be expensive, but not at all. For 65 €you can obtain the book in its physical version (an anthology of essays on biotechnology followed by science fiction stories) and in DNA capsule form. If you are interested, don't delay in pre-ordering. There are only 1,000 copies sold and at the time of publishing this article, around 500 have already found buyers. Note that you must contact the publisher by email for delivery outside the United States. Shipments will begin in February 2025.
David Turek believes that DNA is the storage medium of tomorrow, and he is not the only one to think so. Lining up metal capsules that don't need power to store data is a very enticing prospect, as long as they don't need to be accessed frequently. On the other hand, in terms of (very) long-term archiving, this could be the ideal solution.
Source : Wired
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