If you had to make history by encoding songs into DNA for the first time ever, which artist would you choose? I might choose Miles Davis, but I don’t know if Deep Purple would make the cut…
Regardless, they’re the first two artists ever to receive the honour. Thanks to Twist Bioscience, Microsoft and the University of Washington, two recordings of Tutu by Miles Davis and Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple have been imprinted into DNA.
A bioscience company has immortalised Miles Davis and Deep Purple in DNA, reportedly the first time such a feat has been accomplished.
You’ll have to trust our sources here because I’m no expert, but apparently DNA is on its way to becoming a viable archiving technology in the coming years. As Twist say:
“Where the very best conventional storage media may preserve their digital content for a hundred years under precise conditions, synthetic DNA preserves its information content for hundreds or thousands of years.”
Both recordings were taken from the Montreux Jazz Festival archives. Speaking on the achievement, senior Microsoft engineer Dr. Karin Strauss was eager to blow our minds.
“The amount of DNA used to store these songs is much smaller than one grain of sand. Amazingly, storing the entire six petabyte Montreux Jazz Festival’s collection would result in DNA smaller than one grain of rice.”
Via Pitchfork.
