Microsoft Takes First Steps Toward Using Human DNA For Digital Data Storage
Not only can human DNA hold one quintillion bytes of data, it also lasts a lot longer. Whereas tapes and disks start to degrade as early as three to 10 years, DNA can last for up to 2,000 years. It's a long way from being commercially viable, however.
The San Francisco Business Times:
Data Storage In DNA? Microsoft, Twist Bio Are Loading Up
In what sounds like the plot of a Hollywood science-fiction flick, software giant Microsoft Corp. cut a deal with a growing San Francisco synthetic biology company to study how DNA could archive terabytes of digital data for hundreds of years.
(Leuty, 4/27)
In other health IT news —
Reuters:
Google Glass-Based Startup Raises $17 Million In Funding
Augmedix Inc, a startup that uses Alphabet Inc's Google Glass to provide documentation services to doctors and other healthcare workers, said on Monday it had closed a $17 million funding round led by investment firm Redmile Group. Augmedix's employees transcribe doctors' notes and update patients' electronic medical record through Google Glass. Augmedix's employees transcribe doctors' notes and update patients' electronic medical record through Google Glass. The San Francisco company, which has raised $40 million so far, also said it had received investments from five U.S. healthcare networks, including Sutter Health and Dignity Health, which together have more than 100,000 healthcare workers. (Goliya, 4/25)