Evaluating the risk of data loss due to particle radiation damage in a DNA data storage system

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 8067 - 9
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Christopher N., Ward, David P., Cazzaniga, Carlo, Frost, Christopher, Rech, Paolo, Ganguly, Kumkum, Blanchard, Sean, Wender, Steve, Nguyen, Bichlien H., Smith, Jake A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14.09.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/337/1427; 631/553/2720; 639/705/1042; Damage accumulation; Damage assessment; Data integrity; Data loss; Data storage; Density; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Design parameters; DNA; DNA - radiation effects; DNA damage; DNA Damage - radiation effects; Environmental factors; Error analysis; Genetic testing; Humanities and Social Sciences; Information Storage and Retrieval - methods; Ionizing radiation; Irradiation; Kinetics; Longevity; Magnetic tape; multidisciplinary; Neutron irradiation; Neutron radiation; Neutrons; Neutrons - adverse effects; Nucleotides; Parameter estimation; Radiation; Radiation damage; Radiation, Ionizing; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Storage conditions; Water damage
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51768-x

DNA data storage is a potential alternative to magnetic tape for archival storage purposes, promising substantial gains in information density. Critical to the success of DNA as a storage media is an understanding of the role of environmental factors on the longevity of the stored information. In this paper, we evaluate the effect of exposure to ionizing particle radiation, a cause of data loss in traditional magnetic media, on the longevity of data in DNA data storage pools. We develop a mass action kinetics model to estimate the rate of damage accumulation in DNA strands due to neutron interactions with both nucleotides and residual water molecules, then utilize the model to evaluate the effect several design parameters of a typical DNA data storage scheme have on expected data longevity. Finally, we experimentally validate our model by exposing dried DNA samples to different levels of neutron irradiation and analyzing the resulting error profile. Our results show that particle radiation is not a significant contributor to data loss in DNA data storage pools under typical storage conditions. DNA data storage is a potential alternative to magnetic tape for archival storage purposes, promising substantial gains in information density. Here the authors investigate the susceptibility of DNA-encoded data to particle radiation damage by neutron irradiation and computational modeling, showing that particle radiation is not a significant contributor to data loss under typical storage conditions.