Today’s storage solutions (like hard disk drives and tapes) have scaled extensively over the years; however, these types of storage media are reaching the physical limits of data storage densities. A new and promising alternative is using DNA for storing binary data in synthesised strands of DNA.

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This storage solution – which will take years of R&D to be operational - could have a transformational impact on data storage infrastructures, offering potential advantages in data density, encrypted data storage, data durability, long-term data retention, and sustainability. In the meantime, R&D is focused on e.g. workable access speeds the industry needs to develop suitable standards for DNA data storage to facilitate its future deployment.