The way we store digital data has advanced quite a lot in the last few decades. I am sure you might have seen those images that compare hard drives from the 80s that are like the size of your cupboard versus the memory cards of today that are like the size of your nail.

The amount of data that we can store on a device of a particular size has risen exponentially. Also, storage devices have become smaller and simpler. These days, a small memory card can store a maximum of 2 TB of data. That is upwards of 2000 GB in something that is as big as your nail!!

Even though we have reached such advanced levels of data storage, scientists and technology companies are never satisfied. They are always looking for the next big thing; to make things even more cutting edge.

Well, what could be more cutting edge than storing data in your DNA? This sounds like a piece of technology you would see in a movie. But scientists have been able to encode data into strands of data for quite some time now. And they are getting better at it.

Storing A Novel In DNA

DNA is the building block of life. It contains all the information that makes you, you. So, naturally, the question arises, "Can we store other information in DNA as well?" The answer is YES! In fact, it might be the best data storage medium there is.

Just recently, it was reported that scientists had managed to store information with a density of more than 10 petabytes (10 million GB) in 1 gram of DNA. So, that would mean, you could fit every single video on YouTube in a spoonful of DNA.

Also, a team of scientists from the University of Texas has just encoded the entire "The Wizard of Oz" novel in a double strand of DNA. What's more, they managed to do so far more reliably than all previous methods.

Storing information on DNA has proved unreliable historically. That's because, as like other living things, DNA can be easily damaged. But this new method from the scientists at the university makes the process much more reliable.

In the coming decade, we can expect DNA data storage to become mainstream. It would skyrocket our data storage capacity within a relatively short amount of time.