DNA as a Data Storage Medium

Abstract

The rapid expansion of global digital data generation has exposed critical limitations of conventional electronic storage technologies, including scalability, longevity, and sustainability constraints. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has emerged as a promising alternative medium for long-term data storage (potentially thousands of years under optimal conditions) due to its exceptionally high theoretical information density (455 exabytes per gram of DNA), chemical stability, and low energy requirements for data preservation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of DNA-based data storage technologies, covering the complete information lifecycle from encoding and synthesis to sequencing, error correction, random access, and physical preservation. We discuss current encoding strategies, including constrained coding and codec-based systems, with emphasis on mitigating biochemical limitations such as homopolymer formation, GC-content imbalance, and secondary structure generation. Advances in DNA synthesis technologies are reviewed, comparing established chemical methods with emerging enzymatic approaches in terms of throughput, error rates, scalability, cost, and environmental impact. On the readout side, we analyse first-, second-, and third-generation sequencing platforms together with state-of-the-art error correction and decoding strategies, including Reed-Solomon, Fountain codes, HEDGES, and DNA-Aeon. In addition, recent progress in random access methodologies and DNA preservation strategies is examined, comparing ex situ and in situ approaches with respect to data stability, accessibility, and long-term storage potential. Overall, this work highlights key technological advances and remaining challenges toward scalable, robust, and sustainable DNA-based data storage systems.

Keywords: Binary coding; DNA data storage; DNA synthesis; Decoding; Encoding; Preservation; Random access.