Right now, the world is talking about the U.S. attacks on Iran, while the tech world is closely following the Pentagon-Anthropic-OpenAI spats about AI safety and guardrails. I’m going to let cooler, smarter heads opine about them. Instead, I want to return to the rather more dull, but equally important, topic of data storage.
A pretty piece of glass? Yes, but with LOTs of data on it. Credit: Microsoft Research
I first
wrote about data storage almost ten
years ago, focusing on the then-new ideas of using diamonds or DNA as ultra-dense
storage mechanisms. Five years later I was surprised to find we were about to
enter the Yottabyte Era of data,
with DNA still a leading candidate to store all that data. Since then we’ve
seen AI blossom and data centers become a top-of-mind topic of conversation for
many Americans. We’re generating data faster than we can find places to store it,
and still haven’t solved how that storage will last long term.
Well, I’m
happy to report that advances in DNA storage continue, and that there is a new
rival – glass! – that may prove even better.
Let’s
start with DNA:
Rewritable
DNA storage: This
week researchers at the University of Missouri said
that they’ve found a way to not only store data in DNA but to rewrite it as
needed. Li-Qun “Andrew” Gu, a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering,
said. “We wanted to see if we could store and rewrite information at the
molecular level faster, simpler and more efficiently than ever before.”
The team
is developing a compact electronic device paired with a molecular-scale
detector called a nanopore sensor. As the DNA passes through the sensor, it
creates subtle electrical changes that software translates back into zeros and
ones and, ultimately, the original data file. This method allows data to be
written, erased, and rewritten repeated, just like a hard drive might, except with
much more storage and longevity.
“Think of
it like a super-secure safe deposit box for your digital life,” Professor Gu
said. “DNA storage could protect everything from personal memories and
important documents to scientific data and corporate archives — without the
added cybersecurity concerns.”
Synthetic
biology, meet electronics: Last
week, a team of researchers at Penn State University, reported
on getting DNA to work with electronics. The researchers developed a memory
resistor, or “memristor,” that requires little energy to operate. Better yet, memristors
can allow current flow even after its power source is turned off and it can
remember the direction of prior current flow.
The team
had to create customed DNA sequences, integrate them with thin films of
perovskite, which is commonly used in solar cells, lasers and data storage
devices. This made the DNA capable of conducting electricity.
“We can
computationally determine exactly which sequences we need and how long they
should be, and then we can rationally design them with synthetic DNA,” co-author
Neela H. Yennawar, research professor and director of the Penn State Huck
Institutes, said. “These structures can be systematically doped with silver and
other ions and engineered to interface seamlessly with perovskites —
transforming DNA from a biological macromolecule into a programmable,
multifunctional nanomaterials platform.”
“Biology
and electronics are different domains,” said Kavya S. Keremane,
co-corresponding author and postdoctoral researcher in materials science and
engineering. “Bridging these two fields required developing an entirely new
materials platform that allows them to function seamlessly together. By
combining the information storage capabilities of DNA with the exceptional
electronic properties of perovskite semiconductors, we created a bio-hybrid
system that fundamentally changes how low-power memory devices can be
designed.”
Cheaper,
Faster, More secure:
In a pair of related studies released in late January, researchers at Arizona
State University propose
to approach DNA storage differently: “By treating DNA as an information
platform rather than just a genetic material, we can begin to rethink how data
is stored, read and secured at the nanoscale,” says Hao Yan, a Regents Professor
in the School of Molecular Sciences and director of the Biodesign Center for
Molecular Design and Biomimetics.
The approach
centers less around the well known letters DNA uses but rather the physical
shape. They designed and constructed nanoscale DNA structures that acted as
physical letters, When those letters pass through a microscopic sensor, machine
learning software records and analyzes subtle electrical signals, which the
system can then translate back into readable words and short messages with high
accuracy.
The
approach greatly increases the number of possible molecular codes that can be
created, making unauthorized decoding far more difficult. It also allows
information to be packed into three-dimensional DNA structures, which adds even
more complexity and security to each molecular key.
“In these
studies, our team brings together complementary approaches, including DNA
nanotechnology, super-resolution optical imaging, high-speed electronic readout
and machine learning, to interrogate DNA nanostructures across multiple spatial
and temporal scales,” Chao
Wang, associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy
Engineering. said.
Then, for
something completely different:
Through a glass, clearly: In mid-February, Microsoft reported what it called a “breakthrough” in glass-based storage, under its Project Silica, the goal of which is to develop:
…the world’s first storage technology designed and built from the media up to address humanity’s need for a long-term, sustainable storage technology. We store data in quartz glass: a low-cost, durable WORM media that is electromagnetic field-proof, and offers lifetimes of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. This has huge consequences for sustainability, as it means we can leave data in situ, and eliminate the costly cycle of periodically copying data to a new media generation.
The
breakthrough entails writing not just to expensive silica but ordinary
borosilicate glass, the same material found in kitchen cookware and oven
doors. Moreover, they’ve made both the reading and writing devices simpler,
faster, and cheaper. The team wrote: “All steps, including writing, reading and
decoding, are fully automated, supporting robust, low-effort operation,”
They believe
that glass storage is resistant to water, heat, and dust (unlike DNA), and
should preserve data for at least 10,000 years. “It has incredible durability
and incredible longevity. So once the data is safely inside the glass, it’s
good for a really long time,” said
Richard Black, the research director of Project Silica. He cautions,
though, ““This is not a replacement for everyday storage like [solid state
drives] or hard drives. It’s designed for data you want to write once and
preserve for a very long time.”
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Obviously,
I’m skipping lots of technical details, and, just as obviously, we’re not quite
there yet with either. But that’s the thing about long-term solutions; we have
to start developing them now, before the future overwhelms the present.
