A group of scientists has developed a method to record digital information on molecules at a speed that is times faster than existing technologies. The research demonstrates a novel approach to using epigenetic modifications to store data. Experts believe that this technology could pave the way for creating biological molecular systems for true information storage.

According to this study, scientists suggest that a single human molecule could store up to , information, which has long attracted scientific attention as a promising digital data carrier.

Editing information is composed through programming of mobile types carrying specific exon bits. Parallel printing is driven by self-assembly-driven catalysis to selectively write onto templates. Additionally, nanopore sequencing of modified templates and collective methylation calling.

There are still two major obstacles on the path to fully utilizing storage information. The first is production costs. Currently, the only possible way to record data is through factory synthesis, but this method is too expensive for large-scale use. The second difficulty is the low speed of the information encoding process in molecules. The proposed method allows us to use natural mechanisms to address these two issues, significantly accelerating this process.

The method is based on the methylation of nitrogenous bases in existing templates. This eliminates the need for synthesis and allows for high-speed data recording, which the researchers call "epitaxial bits," an analog to bits in traditional digital computers. Methylation or lack thereof allows data units to be represented as 1 and 0. Tests show that the new method can record data at a rate of 1 bit per reaction, a significant improvement over previous methods that only provided 1 bit.

In addition to boosting productivity, scientists have enhanced the availability of drives by creating platforms. Approximately volunteers from various scientific fields successfully encoded about text information on the platform. However, the technology still lags behind traditional storage methods. Even with the use of - and automated liquid handling platforms, the data writing speed only reaches bits per second ( drives can read and write data at speeds of - /).

Researchers have also raised questions about the durability of the methyl tags created by the new technology. Additionally, there are issues with achieving similar random data access: - Selective file access in the system requires reading the entire database, which is inefficient for nanopore sequencing. - The cost of the technology so far exceeds that of traditional storage systems based on. However, scientists hope that further automation and optimization will help reduce costs and bring the technology closer to commercialization.