"'1g Can Store 1 Billion Movies' DNA Memory Commercialization Breakthrough"

Professor Kwon Seong-hoon of Seoul National University Awarded Scientist of the Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 6th that Professor Kwon Seong-hoon of the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at Seoul National University has been selected as the recipient of the July Science and Technology Person of the Month Award.

Professor Kwon was recognized for laying the groundwork for the commercialization of DNA memory technology, which can effectively store and manage data, a core resource in the data era. This technology uses the biochemical molecule DNA to efficiently store vast amounts of data. DNA memory converts digital information composed of 0s and 1s into quaternary data using DNA base sequences (A, T, C, G) and stores it in DNA. The storage capacity is outstanding, capable of storing one billion high-definition movies in just 1 gram of DNA, and it surpasses existing binary storage devices in terms of lifespan and power consumption, making it a promising future storage medium. However, errors occurring during the synthesis of biochemical DNA molecules have posed obstacles to commercialization by causing reduced data storage density and information loss.

Professor Kwon Seong-hoon, Seoul National University

Professor Kwon’s research team focused on the fact that most DNA synthesis errors are caused by insertions and deletions that lengthen or shorten the DNA strands, and developed a new ultra-high-purity DNA purification technology that can select DNA fragments synthesized at the correct length.

The research team simultaneously measured the lengths of DNA strands with high throughput and separated strands of different lengths to improve measurement errors, thereby maximizing the physical integration density of DNA memory and minimizing data loss. The purification technology developed by the team is expected to contribute not only to DNA memory but also to solving DNA synthesis error problems in fields such as DNA/RNA vaccines, therapeutics, and gene editing tools.

The research results of Professor Kwon’s team were published in the January 2022 issue of Nature Biotechnology.

Schematic diagram of ultra-parallel DNA purification technology for the commercialization of DNA memory.

Professor Kwon stated, “This research is significant because we developed an ultra-high-purity DNA purification technology capable of simultaneously purifying tens of billions of types of DNA, enabling the acquisition of DNA libraries, an essential raw material for DNA memory technology, with high synthesis efficiency.” He added, “We plan to increase the physical integration density of DNA libraries and minimize the possibility of data loss to develop stable DNA memory technology.”