Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Humanity is drowning in data. We’ve gone from a few measly zetabytes in 2015 to over 200 today. And by 2035? We’ll be hoarding more than 19,000 zetabytes—assuming we’ve not paved the planet in data centres by then. Most of this digital deluge is video, from TikToks to cat fails, and our storage methods—hard drives, tapes, flash—are starting to hit physical limits and decay over time.
Enter DNA. Yes, your body’s instruction manual is nature’s original storage device. A single human already holds 90 zetabytes of data in their cells—nearly half the planet’s digital total. It’s durable, dense, and lasts for thousands of years. Scientists have even stored books and Wikipedia in a single DNA vial. The catch? It’s ruinously expensive—for now.
Humanity is drowning in data. We’ve gone from a few measly zetabytes in 2015 to over 200 today. And by 2035? We’ll be hoarding more than 19,000 zetabytes—assuming we’ve not paved the planet in data centres by then. Most of this digital deluge is video, from TikToks to cat fails, and our storage methods—hard drives, tapes, flash—are starting to hit physical limits and decay over time.
Enter DNA. Yes, your body’s instruction manual is nature’s original storage device. A single human already holds 90 zetabytes of data in their cells—nearly half the planet’s digital total. It’s durable, dense, and lasts for thousands of years. Scientists have even stored books and Wikipedia in a single DNA vial. The catch? It’s ruinously expensive—for now.
