3 ms·

It might be a few years too early for this to be an easily accessible option, but if you are worried about mega-term storage you can encode your text in DNA. If

It might be a few years too early for this to be an easily accessible option, but if you are worried about mega-term storage you can encode your text in DNA. If stored properly, this method is far more persistent than magnetic plate or (current) solid state storage. This will potentially preserve the information for millions of years. Plus, you'll save on hosting.

mtufekyapan 13y ago
It is really amazing idea I ever heard. Great! :)
TophWells 13y ago
>This will potentially preserve the information for millions of years. Not true. Outside the body, DNA has a half-life of about 500 years. If you want your writing to last for millions of years, carve some stone tablets.
- Snail_Commando 13y ago
  > Outside the body, DNA has a half-life of about 500 years. Who said it had to be stored outside the body? :) You could create a modified copy of an organism's genome with the information inserted. But let's assume we mean outside the body storage: The ~500 year number is an estimate based on the half-lives of DNA found in paleontological discoveries. Of course, since these samples were discovered in nature- no effort was made to prevent degradation over the post-death timeline. Some estimates say that a DNA strand could still retain useful information for as much as 1.5 million years.[1] We have amplified and sequenced information preserved in nature for 80,000 years.[2] That half-life estimate is based on samples that were not always in solid state, which is an empirically more stable preservation state for DNA. Specifically, the samples were usually not protected from water and oxygen throughout the entire storage period. It is important to keep in mind that despite the observed half-life of DNA (which is still far longer than any existing/practical high density storage medium), it still retains useful information as it degrades for thousands (theoretically, millions) of years. Also, you won't be storing the information on just a single strand, but on billions of strands. This redundancy affords you the ability to reliably amplify and sequence different non-degraded segments after many half-lives. Notice that I said "...if stored properly...", granted, I wasn't clear, but it is certainly theoretically possible to preserve information for millions of years in DNA. DNA is already the highest density storage medium that we use to store human produced information, such as a book. [3] Right now with current storage methods (room temp, dehydrated) we have an archival storage medium reliable for thousands of years. If we can crack two things: extremely high speed sequencing, and ultra-long term solid state storage of DNA; it will be the ultimate high density long term storage medium short of sculpting code into metal at the atomic scale. [1] http://www.npr.org/2013/01/24/170082404/shall-i-encode-thee-in-dna-sonnets-stored-on-double-helix http://www.npr.org/2013/01/24/170082404/shall-i-encode-thee-... [2] http://www.nature.com/news/dna-has-a-521-year-half-life-1.11555 http://www.nature.com/news/dna-has-a-521-year-half-life-1.11... [3] http://arep.med.harvard.edu/pdf/Church_Science_12.pdf http://arep.med.harvard.edu/pdf/Church_Science_12.pdf

mtufekyapan 13y ago

It is really amazing idea I ever heard. Great! :)

TophWells 13y ago

>This will potentially preserve the information for millions of years. Not true. Outside the body, DNA has a half-life of about 500 years. If you want your writing to last for millions of years, carve some stone tablets.

Snail_Commando 13y ago
> Outside the body, DNA has a half-life of about 500 years. Who said it had to be stored outside the body? :) You could create a modified copy of an organism's genome with the information inserted. But let's assume we mean outside the body storage: The ~500 year number is an estimate based on the half-lives of DNA found in paleontological discoveries. Of course, since these samples were discovered in nature- no effort was made to prevent degradation over the post-death timeline. Some estimates say that a DNA strand could still retain useful information for as much as 1.5 million years.[1] We have amplified and sequenced information preserved in nature for 80,000 years.[2] That half-life estimate is based on samples that were not always in solid state, which is an empirically more stable preservation state for DNA. Specifically, the samples were usually not protected from water and oxygen throughout the entire storage period. It is important to keep in mind that despite the observed half-life of DNA (which is still far longer than any existing/practical high density storage medium), it still retains useful information as it degrades for thousands (theoretically, millions) of years. Also, you won't be storing the information on just a single strand, but on billions of strands. This redundancy affords you the ability to reliably amplify and sequence different non-degraded segments after many half-lives. Notice that I said "...if stored properly...", granted, I wasn't clear, but it is certainly theoretically possible to preserve information for millions of years in DNA. DNA is already the highest density storage medium that we use to store human produced information, such as a book. [3] Right now with current storage methods (room temp, dehydrated) we have an archival storage medium reliable for thousands of years. If we can crack two things: extremely high speed sequencing, and ultra-long term solid state storage of DNA; it will be the ultimate high density long term storage medium short of sculpting code into metal at the atomic scale. [1] http://www.npr.org/2013/01/24/170082404/shall-i-encode-thee-in-dna-sonnets-stored-on-double-helix http://www.npr.org/2013/01/24/170082404/shall-i-encode-thee-... [2] http://www.nature.com/news/dna-has-a-521-year-half-life-1.11555 http://www.nature.com/news/dna-has-a-521-year-half-life-1.11... [3] http://arep.med.harvard.edu/pdf/Church_Science_12.pdf http://arep.med.harvard.edu/pdf/Church_Science_12.pdf