Microsoft experimenting with DNA for digital storage.

• Position: DIGITAL PRESERVATION

Microsoft said it plans to acquire 10 million strands of DNA from Twist Bioscience to use for digital storage experiments. Twist Bioscience is a San Francisco-based biology startup that makes synthetic, storage-ready DNA, according to Tech Times.

"As our digital data continues to expand exponentially, we need new methods for long-term, secure data storage," said Doug Carmean, a Microsoft partner architect in its Technology and Research organization. "The initial test phase with Twist demonstrated that we could encode and recover 100% of the digital data from synthetic DNA. We're still years away from a commercially viable product, but our early tests with Twist demonstrate that in the future we'll be able to substantially increase the density and durability of data storage."

Compared to traditional storage systems, the data density offered by DNA is significantly higher...