A team of researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK has made a significant step forward in the conservation of the human gene pool. Scientists have managed to store the entire human genome on a coin-sized 5D optical memory crystal that is potentially indestructible and can last for billions of years.
This innovation represents a major advance in the long-term preservation of genetic information. The crystal of 5D memorydeveloped at the Optoelectronics Research Centre in Southampton, uses ultrafast lasers to inscribe data into “oriented nanostructured voids within silica”The technology uses two optical dimensions and three spatial coordinates to write through the material, enabling unprecedented data density of up to 360 terabytes in the maximum size.
The crystal’s resistance characteristics are extraordinary. It can withstand temperatures of up to 1,000°C, cosmic radiation, and direct impact forces of 10 tons per cm². According to the researchers, These disks would not suffer any degradation for billions of years.
The crystal could provide a backup blueprint for rebuilding life on Earth.
The aim of this project is ambitious: create a backup of the human genome that can be used in the distant future to rebuild life on Earth after a possible mass extinction. In addition to humans, the crystals could preserve the genomes of plant and animal species currently threatened by climate change and habitat loss.
Professor Peter Kazansky, who led the research, said: “The visual key inscribed on the crystal provides its finder with knowledge of the data stored within and how it might be used.”The crystal contains representations of the basic molecular structure of the base pairs of DNA nucleic acids and their double helix arrangement.
Preserving the Genetic Heritage for the Future
Researchers have already filed the first of these genome backups on crystal in an underground archive in a salt mine in Hallstatt, Austria, designed to preserve the records of human civilization. While the idea of recreating Earth species from these eternal data crystals may seem like science fiction, it represents a concrete step toward the long-term preservation of our genetic heritage for future generations or for any intelligent life that might decode our DNA blueprints billions of years after we’ve disappeared.
Source: www.tomshw.it
