The artificial intelligence industry, which has been on our minds for so long, continues to come to the fore with its big breakthroughs in recent years and owes a large part of its growth to data science.
Where and how is data, which has become the fuel of artificial intelligence, stored today? So, how can the invisible DNA molecules make a difference?
A large part of our data is stored on the devices we use and on the servers of some companies. But this method is not very practical in the long run.
In particular, our personal data is stored on disks we call “Hard Disk” (HDD) on our computers, while it is stored in flash memories on our mobile phones.
The data created or used in applications and websites is stored on the servers to which the applications and websites are connected.
It should also be noted that as time passes, more and more storage space is needed for data, as data from thousands or millions of people accumulates on servers.
Mega companies like Meta, Google and more are buying more storage as a solution to this problem. But having to constantly increase storage space sometimes causes problems for these companies with large customer bases and they have to build new buildings for more storage space.
It would not be wrong to state that the companies that are most disturbed by this problem for now are Microsoft and Meta. In an article published in 2019, Microsoft detailed the details of the data storage method in DNA and announced the first DNA storage system to be used.
Although there is no such signal from Meta yet, the company itself is famous for building data collection centers around the world to solve this problem.
Visualize all the social media we use in your mind. Think about how many tweets, how many stories, how many posts, how many photos, how many videos you see each day. Even for the daily content we consume and produce, a huge storage area is needed.
This is also true for the 5 billion other people who already use the internet like you. When you take this fact into account, you realize how big the problem actually is.
Perhaps the most interesting idea put forward to solve the data storage problem: “Let’s use DNA molecules!”
Studies on the method of storing data in DNA were first started in 2013, when geneticists named George M. Church and Nick Goldman stored 1 MB of data in a DNA helix.
Thanks to this method, which was thoroughly developed in the following years, another fact that was realized over time was that DNA had the potential to store a lot of data for up to 700,000 or 1,000,000 years.
According to scientists’ estimates, 215 million GB of data can be stored in 1 gram of DNA. So much so that it will be possible to store all the information and data that mankind has produced so far in a small room, thanks to this technology.
Let’s take a look at genetic engineering and consider how this idea can be brought to life.
DNA molecules, which are made up of nucleobases called adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine, are not easily accessible structures. First, an enzyme is selected. This enzyme is then edited in laboratories, adjusted to target a specific DNA sequence, mixed with other enzymes if necessary, or mutated by various methods, and ultimately released to the target. Thus, the changes we want are applied to the DNA sequence we want.
For this method, a storage area and an injecting tool that will not damage the enzyme are also essential. For this, thinner syringes than normal syringes and DNA tubes are preferred to prevent the substance from being affected and contaminated by the external environment.
In every step of the process, the necessary sensitivity and care must be shown to the enzyme, and the parts of the DNA to be edited must be arranged with the same precision and care. If we think and use enzymes as a data folder, it will be possible to store data in DNA.
This method, which can make great contributions not only to data science, but also to all kinds of science, has both pros and cons.
The first of these problems is that the cost of storing data in DNA is very high. 1GB of data storage currently costs $1,300, while 1TB of data storage currently costs $1,300,000. Scientists aim to overcome this problem over time and reduce the cost of 1TB of data storage to a small amount such as $ 1.
Another problem is the possibility of the stored data being corrupted due to radiation and similar troublesome factors. It is not yet known whether not only the data in DNA but also the data in all our actively used devices will be safe in a possible nuclear disaster or a major space event such as a big solar storm.
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