Each data storage medium has an expiration date. Compact discs, for example, only last for a few years before the layers start to peel off. Storage in the form of magnetic tape only lasts up to 50 years. The fact is that data will be lost without a medium that can last longer.
Atlas Data Storage, a US-based company, is now offering data storage in DNA. Their first product is the Atlas Eon 100 with the data to be stored inserted directly into the DNA gene chain and then dehydrated into powder form. According to Atlas, this allows data to be stored for thousands of years, just like how scientists can read the DNA of ancient animals now.
According to them, because DNA is needed for medical purposes, the stored data can still be read by all scientists thousands of years in the future by scientists without the need for special hardware. This is unlike current data storage technology that requires special tools to read it again.
Atlas has not revealed how much storage they offer or the cost of using their services.
