Imagine using living bacteria as tiny, natural hard drives to store digital files. Instead of using electricity and silicon, this method writes data into DNA and lets bacteria keep it safe. It's like turning a biological cell into a compact, energy-efficient storage cartridge.
Conventional data storage is hitting a wall where scaling up requires too much energy and expensive materials. Current DNA storage methods are too slow and costly for practical business use.
A digital twin to simulate DNA writing and sequencing, a coding/encoding scheme, and a selection of 3 bacterial species for storage.
If you are a data center provider dealing with skyrocketing energy costs for cold storage — this project developed a bacterial storage cartridge that reduces energy needs by using biological mechanisms. It offers a way to store massive amounts of data with higher density than conventional hardware.
If you are an archival firm dealing with the degradation of magnetic tapes — this project developed DNA nanostructures with increased biostability. This allows for the secure, long-term storage of critical data in a biological format.
If you are a biotech company dealing with inefficient DNA writing processes — this project developed a pipeline to convert digital data into stable DNA structures. This enables the use of bacterial genetic switches to edit and retrieve information faster.
Based on available project data, the system uses simple, easily available hardware components and bacterial cells to create a low-cost data drive, avoiding the expensive materials used in conventional scaling.
Based on available project data, the project is currently at a very low TRL (1) and is working toward a proof-of-concept using a molecular dynamics simulation file; industrial scale is not yet achieved.
Based on available project data, there is no specific mention of patents or licensing agreements in the provided report.
The project period runs from 2023-09-01 to 2027-08-31, suggesting that development and testing will continue through 2027.
The project exploits bacterial genetic mechanisms, such as colour-sensitive genetic switches and DNA exchange processes, to retrieve the stored information.
The consortium is well-balanced for a deep-tech venture, consisting of 6 partners across 4 countries. With a 50% industry ratio (3 SMEs), the project has a strong commercial orientation despite its early research stage, supported by 2 universities and 1 research organization.
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