Are we nearly ready to end extinction forever? Prof. Peter Kazansky’s penultimate step was achieved using ‘5D data crystal’ technology
The summary
Professor Peter Kazansky leads a team in the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton. In July 2024, as proof of concept, the whole human genome was stored for the first time in the 5D eternity crystal (see Section 1 for details). The conversion of the DNA sample into highly accurate data was performed for this project by Helixwork Technologies.
These crystals have an enormous data storage capacity relative to their size and require no power source. Read-back capacity has been proven to be 100%. Data crystals can survive extremes of conditions without any data loss for time scales which compare favourably to the age of the Universe, so they can be expected to outlast our species at the very least (see Section 2 for details).
Pioneering work in genetic biology at the J. Craig Venter Institute on the subject of synthetic genomes showed that a section of a genome can be artificially constructed in ATCG bonding from information, then inserted into an existing living cell and grown. This led to the new bacterium, Mycoplasma laboratorium (see Section 3 for details).
The key displayed on the disc to describe the data is culture-free, designed to allow any future intelligence (whether species or machine), as long as it can see or sense, to understand what the stored data is and how it can be used stage by stage to build real genetic material (see Section 4 for details).
Essentially, two fields of science and one more step are required to stop the threat of animal and plant extinctions once and for all. If, for example, UN Red List critically endangered species are gene sequenced (deep read accuracy, 150 passes) and that output is converted into data, optoelectronic technology can provide perfect preservation of that data indefinitely and for it to be retrieved with complete accuracy. Technology in genetic biology has already proven that information can be used to build DNA and insert it into a living cell. We’re nearly there. The next step would be to scale up that biological building process to reach the capacity to reconstruct the full genome of a complex species (billions of ACTG letters). One genome per species is not enough because you need a larger gene pool to stop inbreeding, so something like archiving the genomes of 1,000 polar bears, kakapo or pangolin would be the minimum to bring them back from the abyss.
You want more science detail, I can tell. Yeah baby.
Section 1: About the discovery.
Professor Peter Kazansky leads a team in the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton.
Peter’s work led to the discovery of a way to use ultra-fast lasers to inscribe data into nanostructure voids orientated within silica, with features as small as 20 nanometres. Unlike marking only on the surface of a 2D piece of paper or magnetic tape, this method of encoding uses two optical dimensions and three spatial co-ordinates to write throughout the material, which suggested the name ‘5D data crystal’.
Although writing the most compact embedded structures ever produced by light is an efficient way to store information with 100% readback accuracy, further applications for the process arise from the high durability of the medium this information is recorded within.
Section 2: Storage capacity and durability.
In 2014, the 5D data crystal was awarded the Guinness World Record for the most durable data storage material. The contained data can survive without loss at room temperature for up to 300 quintillion years (300,000,000,000,000,000,000 years). Even at elevated temperatures of 190 °C, data integrity can be preserved for at least ten billion years. In context, the Sun is expected to run out of fuel in 5 billion years and, more speculatively, Richard Gott’s formula suggests the human species itself has a 95% probability of becoming extinct within 8 million years.
The data crystal is equivalent to fused quartz, one of the most chemically and thermally durable materials on Earth. The discs can withstand the high and low extremes of freezing, fire and temperatures of up to 1000 °C. The crystal can withstand direct impact force of up to 10 ton per cm2 and is unchanged by long exposure to cosmic radiation. Although generally impervious to acids, hydrofluoric is the only acid which can damage a 5D crystal at room temperature (also phosphoric acid, when heated to 150 degrees and over).
Peter’s team mostly works with easy to handle 25 mm discs because a few hundred of gigabytes is enough capacity for most projects. Larger dimensions such as a 12 cm diameter disc could potentially be used if there was any intention in future to store up to 360 terabytes in 1,000 layers within one object. The 25mm disc shown here contains 250 gigabytes, using 60 times less area than the potential capacity for this size. However, the larger voxel separation and extra separation in layering ensures error-free readout.
Section 3: Building genetic material from information.
The latest application that seemed appropriate for the data crystal was inspired by scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute who, in 2010, created the first synthetic genome and inserted it into an empty bacterial cell. The new bacterium, Mycoplasma laboratorium, demonstrated the ability to self-replicate proteins. Based on a partial section of DNA, this research showed us that genetic information can be artificially composed, placed into an emptied living cell and then thrive. This has a range of implications for human health which can be applied to any animal or plant species.
In July 2024, for the first time and as a proof of concept, a 5D data crystal was completed containing the full human genome. The deep-read sequencing work was done in partnership with Helixwork Technologies. For the approximately three billion letters in the genome, each letter was sequenced 150 times to make sure it was in that position.
It was realised in Southampton that with a fully accurate complete genome, and if a large enough representation of the gene pool of many species were to be permanently preserved, this technology could be applied not just to human health but also to the challenge of countering animal and plant extinction.
Section 4: The key and encoding.
When faced with the extremely long anticipated survival duration of this data storage format, i.e. beyond the anticipated extinction of our species, the research team had to adapt to the possibility that the data might be retrieved by an intelligence (species or machine) which comes after us. Indeed, it might be found so far into the future that no frame of reference between us exists. Therefore, so the finder would know what they were looking at, the visual key inscribed on the disc could not use any words or numbers but should give the finder knowledge of what data was stored inside and how it could be used to build a body.
Applying the optical property birefringence, the information shown in the openly visible key is, in sequence order, the universal elements to use as building blocks (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen), which build into the four bases of the DNA molecule (adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine) and their molecular structure as shown, their placement in the double helix structure of DNA and, in turn, how genes position into a chromosome, which can then be inserted into a cell. This image is visible to the eye above the dense planes of recorded data within.
Four different orientations of the nanostructures within the glass were used to represent the four nucleotides in 2-bit form. Each nucleotide corresponds to a specific angle of light polarisation encoded in the crystal. For metadata, more complex variations in both the orientation and intensity of the nanostructures were encoded in 4-bit form.
For a visual indication of which species the eternity disc relates to, the team had to consider into how much detail they should go. For this, it was decided to acknowledge an important historical stepping stone which preceded us. The image of humanity inscribed on the data crystal was drawn from the Pioneer space craft plaques (1972/1973) designed by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, a drawing launched by NASA on a path to take it beyond the confines of the Solar System. It is unknown whether data crystal technology will ever follow these plaques in distance travelled but each disc can be expected with a high degree of confidence to exceed their survival time.
A question posed by a philosopher this morning: “When you have researchers on one side of the world who can store genetic information with perfect recall forever and on the other side of the world you have researchers who can turn information back into a primitive living species, when they can do it with a higher species such as mankind, made from data and chemicals alone, will it have a soul?” — Is the soul derived from chemistry or is there something intangible too? This could answer one of the really great philosophical questions.
More background material
“By storing a genome in a 5D memory crystal, we aim to safeguard this invaluable information against potential global catastrophes, technological obsolescence and the degradation that affects traditional storage media.”
Where is the crystal now? “The crystal has been stored in a salt mine along with the Memory of Mankind Archive, with a backup copy held at the University of Southampton. Over time, the salt mine will naturally close as the mountain shifts, providing a stable and secure environment for the crystal, safeguarding the human genome long into the future.”
How is the data on the crystal read? “The reading process is performed using polarization-sensitive microscopy, operated by a computer-controlled, high-speed microscope. The read drive relies on a property of the voxels called form birefringence, where each voxel exhibits different refractive properties compared to the surrounding silica. When polarized light interacts with a voxel, a phase difference is introduced between the two orthogonal components of the light’s polarization due to the birefringence of the voxel (retardance). The light’s polarization angle changes as it passes through the voxel. These two birefringence properties, retardance and polarization angle change, enable the encoding of multiple bits of data within each voxel.”
How do we know how long the data will last without degradation? “Accelerated aging tests heat 5D optical data crystals to temperatures up to 1000°C, speeding up the degradation process. Using the Arrhenius equation, the data from high-temperature tests is extrapolated to predict the material’s behaviour at room temperature, estimating its stability for as long as 13.8 billion years.”
What else has been done with 5D data crystals? On 06 February 2018, Elon Musk put a Tesla Roadster car into outer space, which is currently in heliocentric orbit around the Sun. In the glove compartment of that car is one of Peter’s 5D data crystals containing the novels of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series (15 planes of data). This data storage medium was used because silica glass is ideal for sending through the extreme conditions of outer space as it resists cosmic radiation. (http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=6045;
Books are not a permanent way to store information as paper degrades in its own acids or can be burned, as in the Library of Alexandria disaster. In a presentation on 08 March 2020, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy became the first book to be entered into the British Library in 5D crystal format (42 planes of data). “This is the most durable micro-storage medium ever created, able to preserve information without loss for 300 quintillion years at room temperature. That is longer than the anticipated survival expectancy of the human species. Potentially no world literature, no empirical data, no knowledge need ever be lost again.” — Professor Peter Kazansky, University of Southampton. (Article here).
In 2024, data crystals were used to store the Rosetta All Language Archive in a Swiss mountain. https://www.archmission.org
