GoKawiilDNA serves as the genetic blueprint for every living organism, but it is also an extraordinarily dense way to store information. A single gram can hold about 215 million gigabytes of data. Bringing that remarkable storage capacity into electronics could lead to more efficient data centers, faster processing and systems capable of handling increasingly complex information.
The challenge has been finding a way to make biological DNA function effectively alongside electronic materials. Penn State researchers have now developed an approach designed to overcome that incompatibility.
The work, published in Advanced Functional Materials and the subject of a patent application, relies on two key components. One is synthetic DNA, made from commercially available, chemically engineered molecules arranged into short genetic sequences tailored for specific electronic requirements. The other is crystalline perovskite, a semiconductor already used in technologies including solar cells, lasers and data storage devices.
"Biology and electronics are different domains," said Kavya S. Keremane, co-corresponding author and postdoctoral researcher in materials science and engineering at Penn State. "Bridging these two fields required developing an entirely new materials platform that allows them to function seamlessly together. By combining the information storage capabilities of DNA with the exceptional electronic properties of perovskite semiconductors, we created a bio-hybrid system that fundamentally changes how low-power memory devices can be designed."
Building a Low Power Memory Device
Using these materials, the team created a memory resistor, known as a "memristor," that operates with very little energy. Unlike ordinary resistors, which maintain a set resistance to electrical current in devices ranging from cell phones to space shuttles and lose their stored information when power disappears, memristors can preserve a record of previous electrical activity. They can remember the direction in which current previously flowed even after the power source is removed.
That ability allows information to be stored and processed in the same place, resembling the way neurons function in the brain. Such an arrangement could support more simultaneous and sophisticated forms of data processing. According to the researchers, however, practical commercial systems would still require enough storage capacity and electrical power to become costly and inefficient without DNA's ability to pack enormous amounts of information into a very small space while consuming little energy.
"As the demand for artificial intelligence (AI) grows, we need a new strategy for low-power, high-storage devices," said Bed Poudel, co-corresponding author and research professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State.
Poudel said AI and other emerging technologies are expected to depend increasingly on neuromorphic computing, which is designed to operate more like the human brain. Such systems can evaluate multiple inputs at once while making decisions informed by previous experiences and future priorities.
"Usually, it takes more power to store more information. Our device, however, consumes 100 times less power and the storage capacity is higher than traditional storage devices, like flash drives."
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