New progress in DNA digital storage technology →

With the explosive growth of digital data production, humans are facing huge challenges in data storage and management. Traditional digital storage media are gradually approaching their density limits, and efficient and reliable data storage technology is imminent. In this context, DNA, as a high-density, long-term stable storage medium, has attracted much attention from the scientific community.

However, using DNA for digital storage also faces a series of challenges, one of the most important of which is how to effectively correct various errors caused by the special properties of DNA sequences. To solve this problem, the Agricultural Genomics Technology R&D and Application Innovation Team of the Shenzhen Agricultural Genomics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences proposed a new error correction system, Derrick, which achieved a breakthrough in the traditional hard decision strategy through a soft decision strategy, pointing out the direction for the future development of DNA digital storage. The relevant research results were published in the National Science Review.

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DNA digital storage has attracted much attention for its amazing information density and long-term information preservation capabilities. The base sequence inside the DNA molecule can encode a large amount of information, and its information density is much higher than that of traditional hard disks or solid-state memories. In addition, DNA molecules can be stored stably for a long time under appropriate conditions, even for hundreds of years. However, DNA digital storage also faces many challenges, including high synthesis and sequencing costs, limited error correction capabilities, and technical challenges in fast reading and writing of data. Among these challenges, how to efficiently correct various errors in DNA sequences is a particularly important issue, which is directly related to the integrity and reliability of the data.

The advent of Derrick fills the gap in error correction in existing DNA digital storage systems, bringing revolutionary changes to the development of this field. Traditional hard decision strategies are often powerless when faced with insertion, deletion and substitution errors in DNA sequences, while Derrick's soft decision strategy successfully improves the error correction capability through accurate error prediction and appropriate correction strategies, greatly enhancing the reliability and stability of DNA digital storage systems.

Derrick's working principle stems from its unique soft decision strategy. By establishing an accurate error prediction model, Derrick can accurately identify and correct various types of errors in DNA sequences, including insertions, deletions, and substitutions. The soft decision strategy enables Derrick to make more accurate judgments and handle errors that traditional hard decision strategies cannot handle, thereby effectively improving the error correction capability and stability of the entire system. In addition, Derrick also uses a CRC64 code check mechanism to verify the correctness of the entire data matrix, and further corrects possible errors through a backtracking algorithm to ensure data integrity and reliability.

Derrick has achieved remarkable results in experimental verification. Through real-time and virtual experiments on different types of sequencing technologies, Derrick has successfully demonstrated its excellent performance in error correction capability and decoding failure rate. This groundbreaking innovation points the way for the future development of DNA digital storage systems and provides reliable technical support for the safe storage and efficient management of large-scale data. With the continuous development and improvement of technology, Derrick is expected to become one of the core technologies of future DNA digital storage systems, providing new solutions for humans to establish safer and more efficient data storage and management systems.

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As an emerging storage method, DNA digital storage technology has great potential and broad development space. As an innovative error correction system, Derrick provides a new idea and method to solve the core problems in DNA digital storage. It is believed that with the unremitting efforts and continuous exploration of more scientists, DNA-based digital storage technology will gradually mature and be widely used in actual production and life.

Planning and production

Author: Sam Popular Science Writer

Reviewer: Tao Ning, Associate Researcher, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Editor: Zhong Yanping and Qi Yuan (Intern)