DNA digital data storage

 Abstract on DNA digital data storage  

Digital data has changed the use and access of information. Everyday  lot  of  data  is  produced  and  this  requires  high-density  storage  devices which  can  retain  values  for  a long time. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) can be potentially used for  these  purposes  as  it  is  not  much  different  from  the conventional method used in a computer. DNA can be used as a  robust  and  high-density  storage  device  even  under unfavourable  conditions. Theoretically,  one  can encode 2 bits per nucleotide in DNA which can store 455 exabytes per gram maximum data in single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). In this paper, the method described can be used to store text data in DNA by compressing, storing multiple copies  along with providing security to data.

Introduction

The demand for data storage devices is increasing day by day as  more  and  more  data  is  generated  every  day.  Total information in digital  format in the year 2012 was about 2.7 zettabytes. Presently devices such as optical discs, portable hard drives, and flash drives are used to store data. But silicon and the other non-biodegradable materials used in data storage pollute  the environment. Also,  they are available in  limited quantities. Thus, they would be exhausted one day. The linear density of digital storage  device is  10 kb  per square  mm. Hence,  newer  technology  is  needed  for  data  storage  and archival  process.  As  the  data  increases,  the  current  data storage technology would not be enough to store data in future as  data  is  growing  every  day.  Even  potentially  important information can get lost due lack of storage space. 

How does DNA digital data storage work?

The digital data is encoded in a DNA sequence, the corresponding sequence information is synthesized into an artificial DNA and the information is decoded by sequencing the artificial DNA strand. This is the exact path of storing and retrieving digital data from DNA.

Encoding data into the DNA sequence:

The computer is worked on a binary system of 1 and 2. In the very first step, digital data is incorporated into the DNA. The DNA has 4 nitrogenous bases: Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G) and Thymine (T).  For storing data into the DNA, the A, T, G and C bases of DNA first converted into binary codes 1 and 0. 

00 for A, 01 for G, 10 for C and 11 for T are the binary codes for storing information. The information in the binary form is converted into the sequence of A, T, G, C. Now we have the long digital sequence of DNA.

References:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303318968_Digital_Data_Storage_on_DNA

https://geneticeducation.co.in/dna-digital-data-storage/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_digital_data_storage