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World's Data Could Fit On A Teaspoon-Sized DNA Hard Drive And Survive Thousands Of Years

World's Data Could Fit On A Teaspoon-Sized DNA Hard Drive And Survive Thousands Of Years
Farah Mohamed
By 

Managing Editor, The WorldPost

FILE - In this April 19, 2007 file photo, a lab officer cuts a DNA fragment under UV light from an agarose gel for DNA sequencing as part of research to determine genetic mutation in a blood cancer patient, in Singapore, which prides itself as an advanced medical treatment and research hub. New research shows a sharp escalation in the weapons race against cancer, with several high-tech approaches long dreamed of but not possible or successful until now. At a weekend conference of more than 30,000 cancer specialists, scientists are reporting new tactics to spur the immune system to attack a broad range of cancers, new drugs that attack the disease while sparing healthy cells, and new ways to tell which patients will benefit from which drugs. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
FILE - In this April 19, 2007 file photo, a lab officer cuts a DNA fragment under UV light from an agarose gel for DNA sequencing as part of research to determine genetic mutation in a blood cancer patient, in Singapore, which prides itself as an advanced medical treatment and research hub. New research shows a sharp escalation in the weapons race against cancer, with several high-tech approaches long dreamed of but not possible or successful until now. At a weekend conference of more than 30,000 cancer specialists, scientists are reporting new tactics to spur the immune system to attack a broad range of cancers, new drugs that attack the disease while sparing healthy cells, and new ways to tell which patients will benefit from which drugs. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

The blueprint of every living thing on the planet is encoded in DNA. We know the stuff can hold a lot of information. But how much is a lot? We could theoretically encode the world's data (from emails to albums, movies to novels) on just a few grams of DNA. DNA already preserves life itself—now it might also preserve life as we live it.

According to New Scientist, a gram of DNA could theoretically store 455 exabytes of data. And Quartz drives the point home. If the world has about 1.8 zettabytes of data, according to a 2011 estimate, all the world's information would fit on a four-gram DNA hard drive the size of a teaspoon.

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