Data storage has evolved since the IBM punch card in 1928. Datastickies, DNA storage and helium drives are just some of the possibilities for the future of data storage.
DNA Storage
What started off as a joke turned into reality when two genomicists discussed how appropriate storing data on DNA could be.
Data files are converted into binary code and then into A, T, G, and C code, which stand for the four DNA bases. From these letters, blueprints for the DNA are drawn and the actual strands are created. To the human eye, the completed DNA fragments look like a tiny amount of dust at the bottom of a test tube.
Why is this a step forward? Well, data stored on DNA could be kept intact for thousands of years. Compare this to magnetic tape, which needs to be replaced every five years, and you can see the advantage.