A DNA tape can store much more information than a standard cassette tape.
Jiankai Li et al. 2025
This year, researchers created a new take on the 1960s technology that uses DNA instead of iron oxide to encode information on plastic tape.
It can store a phenomenal amount of information: while a traditional cassette tape stores about 12 songs on each side, DNA tape could store every song ever recorded.
With a song size of 10 megabytes, 100 meters of DNA cassette can hold more than 3 billion pieces of music. The total data storage capacity is 36 petabytes of data, which is equivalent to 36,000 terabytes of hard drives.
Xingyu Jiang from Southern University of Science and Technology in Guangdong, China, and colleagues created the cassette by printing synthetic DNA molecules onto plastic tape. “We can design its sequence so that the order of DNA bases (A, T, C, G) represents digital information, just like the 0s and 1s in a computer,” he said. New scientist in September. This means that it can store any type of digital file, be it text, image, audio or video.
The team was stunned by the reaction to the DNA tape after it was reported New scientist. “One of the most unexpected results was the wide range of reactions – not only from scientists, but also from artists, engineers and educators,” Jiang says. “Many people wrote to us saying that this work inspired them to think differently about data, biology and technology. It was incredibly rewarding.”
The researchers' next step will be to develop a new head for the DNA cassette, similar in concept to the read-write head in a traditional magnetic tape drive. “In our system, this 'head' precisely positions and presses a selected section of DNA tape into a small reaction chamber, where chemical or biochemical processes such as DNA release, reading or rewriting can occur,” says Jiang.
They hope to have a DNA cassette on the market within five years. “For us, the DNA cassette project has always been about more than just a storage container. It is about reimagining how information can live in physical, even biological forms,” says Jiang.
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