How do you store a TON of data in a very small package for 250 years?

Do you copy it onto a flash drive? Record it onto a voice message? Or, heaven forbid, write it down on a piece of paper?

That’s a question that the Library of Congress considered when it put together a time capsule meant to be opened in the year 2251.

We don’t know what the world will look like in that year and technology like servers and USB drives may be out of date. They could go the way of the floppy disc or CD.

So, to give the time capsule the best chance of being understood by future generations, the Library of Congress turned to an archiving technology that is as old as life itself: DNA. And they did it with the help of a team from the University of Washington. 

GUEST: Chris Takahashi - Principal Investigator at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.

RELATED LINKS:
With a ‘hello,’ Microsoft and UW demonstrate first fully automated DNA data storage
Library Treasures Stored on Synthetic DNA
Demonstration of End-to-End Automation of DNA Data Storage

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

How do you store a TON of data in a very small package for 250 years?
Do you copy it onto a flash drive? Record it onto a voice message? Or, heaven forbid, write it down on a piece of paper?
That&rsquo;s a question that the Library of Congress considered when it put together a time capsule meant to be opened in the year 2251.
We don&rsquo;t know what the world will look like in that year and technology like servers and USB drives may be out of date. They could go the way of the floppy disc or CD.
So, to give the time capsule the best chance of being understood by future generations, the Library of Congress turned to an archiving technology that is as old as life itself: DNA. And they did it with the help of a team from the University of Washington.&nbsp;
GUEST:&nbsp;Chris Takahashi - Principal Investigator at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science &amp; Engineering.
RELATED LINKS:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.washington.edu/news/2019/03/21/first-fully-automated-dna-data-storage/">With a &lsquo;hello,&rsquo; Microsoft and UW demonstrate first fully automated DNA data storage</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/event-421545/library-treasures-stored-on-synthetic-dna/2026-07-07/">Library Treasures Stored on Synthetic DNA</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41228-8">Demonstration of End-to-End Automation of DNA Data Storage</a></li>
</ul>
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to <a href="http://kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes">kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes</a>
Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

Soundside

On July 4, a time capsule was buried in Philadelphia to mark the U.S.’s 250th anniversary. Among the items inside was a small metal vial that holds synthetic DNA encoded with major documents from the Library of Congress, as well as instructions to decode the DNA and access the information.