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It’s official: Imagene is entering the DNA data storage industry
Imagene, Pessac, France, 2019/11/19: DNA data storage is the new paradigm. The 2019 World Economic Forum reveals DNA data storage as one of the top 10 emerging technologies which will shape tomorrow’s world and radically impact the global social and economic order. Much can be read about encoding and decoding binary data to and from synthesized strands of DNA. But what about DNA storage? Where should we store DNA then? Not in -80°C freezers anymore.
For the very first time, a DNA data storage project has publicly reported the use of Imagene’s DNAshell® technology for purposely unlimited-term DNA preservation ( website: http://dna.unicef.no/en ; video only: https://shrtm.nu/SUhV)
To celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child #CRC30, UNICEF (@UNICEF) has encoded and intend to store the document in synthetic DNA for all foreseeable future. The project, #inourDNA, has involved EMBL-EBI, Cambridge, UK participation for encoding of the text file (@emblebi), Twist Bioscience, San Francisco, CA for DNA synthesis and sequence control (@TwistBioscience), and Imagene, Pessac, France for encapsulation of the DNA in a DNAshell to keep it safe, recoverable and readable for millennia (@imagene_biotech).
DNAshell: the new hard-drive enclosure for the growing DNA data storage industry
Imagene DNAshell is a tiny little capsule of 0.7 mL and 1.3 g, which is laser-sealed (for absolute and long-term air tightness) under inert atmosphere to keep DNA safe from air, humidity and other contaminants. A technology that allows a robust and energy-free standalone preservation of dehydrated DNA at room temperature.
So far, Imagene’s technology has been used for biobanking applications at healthcare institutions and museums, and for quality control and reference material distribution in the molecular diagnostic industry.
Now, with a DNA storage capacity of half a gram down to picograms, DNAshells can store Exabytes of data with sufficient redundancy. Which makes Imagene a DNA hard drive manufacturer, for very large capacity DNA drives.
Also, with a standard-sized DNA fragment calculated half-life of 50,000 years when stored at 25°C in a DNAshell, data can be preserved for millennia. Creating a new standard for the data storage hardware industry that comes with a very high level of protection and stability associated to a zero-energy footprint.
With the announcement of Imagene partnership with Twist Bioscience (07/25/2019), the leading DNA synthesis company, and with Imagene participation to the #inourDNA project for the celebration of the 30 years of the UNICEF Children’s Right Convention #CRC30, Imagene is now part of the new industry of DNA data storage #DNAshell #DNAdataStorage #Synbio.