DNA vs SSD?

[tech explorer]

Starting to hear about DNA which I know nothing about. Already know about SSD and HDD, what do you know about DNA?

 

[WeatherMan]

These won't be around for another 10 - 20 years at the very very earliest

A DNA Drive is exactly what it sounds like, a storage structure formed out of DNA strings instead of memory chips/disks.

I don't know anything about their theoretical speed or capacities though, would be pretty astonishing I bet

 

[voyagerfan99]

Yeah they're a long way off. But DNA and other organics can process data quite quickly so it should be interesting to see what happens.

 

[tech explorer]

It sounds exciting. I did an internet search and came up with this: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/510246/why-dna-will-someday-replace-the-hard-drive/

 

[WeatherMan]

Thanks for that link, it's a real interesting read!

Here is a quote of interest:

The storage density of the DNA files is about 2.2 petabytes per gram.

Goldman’s group estimates that encoding data in DNA currently costs $12,400 per megabyte, plus $220 per megabyte to read that data back. If the price of DNA synthesis comes down by two orders of magnitude, as it is expected to do in the next decade, says Goldman, DNA data storage will soon cost less than archiving data on magnetic tapes.

 

[spynoodle]

I could definitely see this being a legitimate cost-benefit discussion thread in a decade or two.

 

[WeatherMan]

Just realised I think I should change my avatar