This "everlasting" crystal contains the entire human genome, recorded using ultra-fast lasers, and is meant to instruct future species on how to create humans. Image Credit: University of Southampton

Technology The World13. October 2024

Humanity’s Backup Plan: A Tiny Crystal That Stores DNA (for a Long, Long Time)

Scientists have encoded human genetic data onto a coin-sized 5D memory crystal, making it possible for future species to recreate humans millions or even billions of years from now.

“We were inspired by the potential of 5D memory crystals to provide ultra-durable, high-density storage that can last billions of years,” explains lead researcher Peter Kazansky, an optoelectronics expert at the University of Southampton. “We were also inspired by the possibility that this technology could assist in the reconstruction of a person using stored genetic information, thus providing a form of information immortality that could safeguard human identity long into the future.”

The memory crystal can survive cosmic radiation, weather extreme temperatures – from well below the freezing point to up to 1,000 degrees Celsius – and withstand a direct impact force of up to ten tons per square centimetre. At room temperature, the crystal can remain stable for 300 quintillion years, more than 21 billion times the universe’s current age. In its largest size, the crystal can store up to 360 terabytes of information for billions of years. The team of scientists managed to encode the data into tiny voids in silica as small as 20 nanometers. These nanostructures contain information across five dimensions—height, length, width, orientation, and position—hence the term “5D.” The memory crystal now sits in the Memory of Mankind archive in the world’s oldest salt mine in Hallstatt, Austria.

Source:
Smithsonian Magazine

:::::: Related Articles

Back to top button