We Can Use DNA for Data Storage
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 964 Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2021
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn about how we could use DNA to store all of human knowledge for thousands of years. Then, test your podcast knowledge with the Curiosity Challenge trivia game. You’ll also learn about why becoming a parent may help you live longer.
DNA data storage could store all human knowledge in a small space for thousands of years by Grant Currin
- TED-Ed. (2017). Is DNA the future of data storage? - Leo Bear-McGuinness [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8qWc9X4f6k
- Yong, E. (2014). DNA storage: The code that could save civilisation. Bbc.com. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130724-saving-civilisation-in-one-room
- Shankland, S. (2019, June 29). Startup packs all 16GB of Wikipedia onto DNA strands to demonstrate new storage tech. CNET; CNET. https://www.cnet.com/news/startup-packs-all-16gb-wikipedia-onto-dna-strands-demonstrate-new-storage-tech/
- Netflix. (2020). Biohackers | First Original Series stored in DNA | Netflix [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMYgjOHgHxc
- Armstrong, S. (2019, March 15). With AI and DNA, Massive Attack are hacking a new kind of music. WIRED UK. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/massive-attack-mezzanine-dna
- Adi Robertson. (2016, July 7). Microsoft stored an OK Go music video in strings of DNA. The Verge; The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/7/12114480/dna-storage-ok-go-microsoft-university-washington-twist-bioscience
Episodes referenced in Curiosity Challenge Trivia game:
- Neanderthals: https://www.curiositydaily.com/how-to-know-youre-running-low-on-vitamins/
- Catnip: https://www.curiositydaily.com/time-management-can-make-you-happier/
- Holding your breath: https://www.curiositydaily.com/why-cant-you-hold-your-breath-to-death/
If You Want to Live Longer, Become a Parent by Ashley Hamer
- Davis, N. (2017, March 14). Parenthood can help you live longer in older age, research suggests. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/14/parenthood-can-help-you-live-longer-in-older-age-research-suggests
- Modig, K., Talbäck, M., Torssander, J., & Ahlbom, A. (2017). Payback time? Influence of having children on mortality in old age. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 71(5), 424–430. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2016-207857
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from |
| 0:04.8 | Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Goff. And I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:08.0 | Today you learn about how we could use DNA to store all of human knowledge for |
| 0:12.3 | thousands of years. |
| 0:13.0 | Then we'll test your podcast knowledge with this month's Curiosity Challenge trivia game. |
| 0:18.0 | You'll also learn about why becoming a parent may help you live longer. |
| 0:22.0 | Let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:24.0 | What do these things have in common? |
| 0:27.0 | Shakespeare's sonnets, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, |
| 0:31.0 | the discography of the |
| 0:33.0 | English electronic band Massive Attack |
| 0:35.0 | and every article on Wikipedia. |
| 0:38.0 | They've all been stored in DNA. |
| 0:41.0 | Yeah, you heard that right. It turns out that good old deoxy ribonucleic acid can do way more than encode the instructions for life itself. |
| 0:50.0 | Those long molecules can be used to store all kinds of information. |
| 0:55.0 | Even a high-def version of the video for OK-Goes, this two shall pass, |
| 1:00.0 | which researchers encoded into DNA in 2016. |
| 1:05.0 | Look, DNA is powerful stuff, but its structure is pretty simple. |
| 1:10.0 | A few different molecules bond to form the backbone and the information is encoded using just four molecules. |
| 1:17.5 | Guanein, cytosine, adenine, and thiamine. |
| 1:21.0 | Did I pronounce all those right? |
| 1:23.0 | Yeah. Yes! |
... |
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