Bases for bits, a book is written as DNA

We're getting so good at sequencing DNA that it's beginning to create a data crisis as we struggle to store all the data coming off the sequencing machines. Now, however, some researchers have reversed the process, taking some informationan entire bookand storing it in the form of DNA. And they find that it is actually a very efficient form of storage, although reading and writing remains a hassle.

Why would you want to stick information in DNA? For one, if properly stored, it can be stable for centuries and even millennia, which is as good as most books and better than most digital storage media. And, as the authors point out, we don't have to worry about having any sort of special mechanism (like, say, a DVD player) to get the data back out:... [via Ars Technica]