Human genome stored in “eternal” memory crystal
It is an innovation with the potential to preserve humanity for thousands of millions of years beyond our end.
Scientists at the University of Southampton have managed to store the entire human genome in a revolutionary crystal of ultra -alleged memory that they call the 5D chip.
The data storage format may one day help restore humanity or threatened species long after its extinction – if scientific advances make this rebirth possible – says the team of researchers.
The 5D Crystal, developed by the Optoelectronic Research Center (ORC) of that university, uses a technique involving ultra -rare lasers to record data in nanostructured layers within molten quartz.
Unlike traditional data storage methods that deteriorate over time, the innovative crystal has longevity and resilience as never before.
Storing Up to 360 Terabytesthe “crystal of eternity” is immune to extreme conditions such as temperatures up to 1000 ° C, intense physical pressure and exposure to cosmic radiation – its durability has even awarded a worldwide Guinness record.
“We know, by the work of other researchers, that the genetic material of simple organisms can be synthesized and used in an existing cell to create a viable living specimen in the laboratory,” says Peter Kazansky, who leads the research team at British University.
“The 5D memory crystal opens possibilities for other researchers to build an eternal repository of genomic information from which complex organisms such as plants and animals can be restored if science allows it in the future,” he said.
The crystal encodes information in five dimensions – Two optics and three spatials – recording data in characteristics as small as 20 nanometers within the silica structure.
Although current science does not yet allow the creation of complex organisms from only genetic code, technological advances – such as the synthetic bacterium created by Dr. Craig Vent’s team in 2010 – suggest that this possibility is not properly distant, researchers believe.
To test the crystal capabilities, Southampton’s team stored a human genome fully sequenced on a single disc. Given the complexity of the task – approximately three billion DNA lyrics – The team has done deep reading sequencing, repeating each base 150 times to ensure accuracy.
But investigators were not limited to data storage. To ensure that future civilizations or even non -human intelligences could understand and decode information, they incorporated a chave visual In the crystal that illustrates the fundamental chemical elements of DNA, the structure of the double propeller and the arrangement of genes on chromosomes, guiding any future interpreter on how to recreate the genome in a cellular context.
The crystal was placed in the Memory of Mankind file, a time capsule located inside a Hallstatt salt cave in Austria.
Inspired by NASA’s Pioneer Pioneer spacecraft plates, the researchers added visual elements that indicate the human species if the disc is discovered in a future where there is no cultural context.
We do not know if memory crystals technology will ever follow these plates in terms of distance traveled, but we can expect with a high degree of confidence that each disk exceeds its survival time
