Chinese scientists encoded Ernest Hemingway’s “A Very Short Story” in the DNA of E. coli. The text was preserved inside living cells for 100 generations of bacteria. The experiment showed that genetic code can serve as a carrier of digital information.
To do this, the researchers developed the DNA-SaM algorithm. It converts computer files into a sequence of four genetic symbols—A, C, G and T—and then breaks that sequence into fragments. The 3,288-byte story was recorded as 41 DNA fragments. The data were also successfully stored and recovered using artificially created molecules.
And here is the most striking part: the system’s estimated capacity exceeds 2⁷⁰ petabytes. To imagine that scale, picture an archive of more than 200 septillion high-quality films (a number with 26 zeros). All of this could potentially fit into a tiny amount of biological material.
For now, the technology is too expensive for everyday use. But perhaps one day a test tube really will be enough to store an entire library.
