[DNA for information storage?]

The very high information density of DNA has prompted speculations on its use for information storage. The high costs of DNA synthesis and sequencing made this highly unpractical; however recent progress (notably array oligonucleotide synthesis) is changing the situation. A recent paper shows encoding and decoding of significant amounts of data (200 MB) with random access to individual files and faithful retrieval of content, at a cost that is still high but not extreme. Much progress remains to be achieved, but this use of DNA in now technically achievable and may eventually become practical.