It will make you reconsider the digital future If you have data to archive, there are many current options available: HDDs, SSDs, CDs and DVDs to name a few. In the future, though, data storage may look considerably different, and instead involve the careful use of encoded DNA. Though the idea to use DNA for data storage isn’t new, the technology is still in its infancy. A new study sheds light on what is currently possible, and details a couple of astounding breakthroughs, not the least of which is encoding a movie in DNA. The latest DNA data storage achievements were made in part with the gene-editing technology CRISPR — in this case, the researchers used CRISPR-Cas microbial immune system. According to the study, which was recently published in Nature, ‘When harnessed, [CRISPR-Cas] has the potential to write arbitrary information into the genome.’ This is done by adding nucleotides to a living cell over time. The study e