Microsoft’s Project Silica and diamond optical discs provide a revolutionary way to store extensive data for extended durations. Currently, we depend on magnetic tapes and hard disk drives for prolonged data preservation, with hard drives being the more common option in data centers and businesses. Nevertheless, researchers have achieved a significant advancement in DNA-based storage systems that could transform our data storage methods.
It has long been understood among scientists that DNA can hold an astonishing amount of information (approximately 455 exabytes, or 455 million terabytes, per gram), primarily due to its remarkable density. Consequently, there have been multiple efforts to develop effective solutions that utilize DNA as a storage medium. However, none have matched the recent success in both storage capacity and data access as demonstrated by the researchers from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in China.
As per a study released in Science Advances, the researchers have designed a DNA cassette tape, which is similar to the audio cassette tapes that were popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. This innovative medium can potentially store up to 362 petabytes or 362,000 terabytes of data, providing ample space for your entire Steam library alongside other content collections you may possess.
<div class="slide-key image-holder gallery-image-holder credit-image-wrap " data-post-url="https://www.bgr.com/1976322/what-is-a-dna-cassette-tape-store-petabytes-data-explained-2025/" data-post-title
