Designing for Survival of the Safest

Synthetic DNA, Machine-Made

Juiced out by hardy-looking DNA synthesis machines after ingesting a cocktail of chemicals, synthetic DNA mirrors the nature-produced counterparts found in our bodies and nearly all living organisms.

It might surprise some of you, but this synthetic, artificial DNA could form blueprints of future cars you might soon be driving.

Now you might wonder, are we talking about the creation of actual living, breathing, bio-digital hybrid cars that are born through synthetic biology?

Well, not exactly. But let me clarify.

DNA-Based Digital Data Storage

In recent years, synthetic DNA has been making headlines due to its potential for digital data storage. DNA data storage involves encoding binary digital data (0's and 1’s) into the Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C), and Guanine (G) molecules of DNA.

This technology has received substantial attention in data science circles and mainstream media, hailed for its incredible capacity, durability lasting up to a million years, and its promise to solve our over-spilling data storage crisis.

Twist Bioscience and Molecular Information Systems Lab at the University of Washington, are just two of the well-known organizations helping to develop the technology.

They are part of the DNA Data Storage Alliance (DDSA), a collaborative group composed of various entities from academia, industry, and technology sectors that are working to develop and promote the technology toward real-world applications.

And, the Cars?

So why does this sustainable data storage technology matter for the future development and design of vehicles?

It’s related to the enormous data surge generated by Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and the imperative need to store it efficiently.

DNA data storage could help with that, by offering a means by which vast quantities of potentially valuable data to be archived away for an almost indefinite period.

ADAS, which includes features like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, and many others, accumulates vast amounts of data essential for safe driving. Just think about it — your typical modern car comes equipped with about 6 to 8 cameras, each capable of generating 20 to 60 MB every second.

Add in radar at over 10 kB/s, sonar between 10 to 100 kB/s, GPS at up to 50 kB/s, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) ranging from 10 MB/s to 70 MB/s. That’s a whole lot of data coming in.

To put it into perspective, a single autonomous vehicle (when it’s operating at its peak) can churn out around 15,000 gigabytes (or 15 terabytes) of raw data during an 8-hour round trip from New York City to Boston.

Looking ahead to 2025, experts estimate that there will be at least 400 million connected passenger vehicles worldwide. All these cars collectively will be generating a staggering 10 exabytes of data traffic every month. And this is just the beginning.

As time moves forward, newer vehicles will be adopting higher levels of automation. This means more sensors and different ways of collecting data, which will only speed up the already incredible rate at which data is being generated on our roads.

What’s more, various groups involved in the automotive industry, like car manufacturers, sensor creators, insurance companies, and state/local transportation departments, expect to hold onto a significant portion of this data for specific reasons.

For one, they might need this data to perform hardware-in-the-loop testing and simulation-based development.

Also, the data may come in handy for training and verifying machine learning models, whilst it could also play a critical role in various safety applications, such as reconstructing crashes, modeling safety-critical scenarios, and analyzing potential hazards.

While the exact duration for retaining this data will be determined by local rules and contractual agreements, international standards are likely to mandate data retention for the lifespan of the vehicle that generated it.

Moreover, for tasks like training models, updating systems, handling safety recalls, determining liability after accidents, and more, this data might need to be kept for decades.

Meeting these requirements means safeguarding data against loss, human mistakes, and cyber threats while strictly enforcing policies for data management.

And this is where DNA data storage steps in.

According to DDSA, they see a potential match between DNA data storage and the needs of ADAS developers. According to DDSA’s white paper, future car developers might opt to store crucial ADAS data in DNA.

They believe that DNA storage aligns with ADAS archival requirements, offering high capacity, low total cost of ownership, and potentially efficient targeted data retrieval.

As ADAS continues to evolve and generate vast amounts of valuable data, DNA data storage emerges as a promising solution for efficient data management, promising an exciting future for the automotive industry.

If so, the idea of cars being developed on data that had been archived in DNA, or even having the vehicles be equipped with DNA hard drives archiving driver interactions with the vehicle’s ADAS systems, may not be too far-fetched.

What This Means for the Car Industry

Advancements in data management are crucial for the automotive industry, especially evident in recent news highlighting the significance of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

To name but just a few, Tesla’s 2023 recall due to concerns about the accuracy of their Advanced Driver Assistance System in detecting stationary objects underscores the necessity for enhancing safety measures.

Meanwhile, Chinese company Xpeng’s plans for deploying its ADAS across vehicles in China (and Europe) indicate the growing prominence of autonomous driving features.

DNA data storage for the automobile industry, once set in motion, so to speak, would store the 10 exabytes of driving data every month within a single drop of synthetic DNA. The process becomes more intricate though, when considering the entire journey of the digital data from the vehicles.

This data must be initially transmitted to specialized data centers equipped to handle its management. These centers would play a crucial role in converting the data into DNA sequences, a process facilitated by the DNA-making machine mentioned earlier. These sequences undergo chemical manufacturing before finding their place in a cool, dark storage unit.

Interestingly, maintaining this storage unit doesn’t require the massive energy consumption characteristic of modern data centers, which is a noteworthy advantage.

However, it’s imperative to note that DNA data storage technology is still in its early stages. Development and refinement are ongoing, particularly concerning issues like errors, high cost, and the speed of encoding and reading data.

Researchers and developers diligently work on these challenges, pushing the technology forward. Acknowledging its infancy, it’s clear that DNA data storage has immense potential for the automobile industry’s technological advancements.

Despite current hurdles, stakeholders exhibit confidence in this technology’s trajectory, making it an exciting period for tech development in the automotive sector.

Evolving DNA = Evolving Cars of the Future?

Looking further into the storage of digital data within DNA, what fascinates me most is its potential for continuous updates and improvements, serving as an evolving resource for engineers and designers in refining car designs.

This idea of synthetic DNA serving as a blueprint for future car generations resembles a poetic concept, reminiscent of natural DNA’s role in the biological evolution of living organisms: Could synthetic DNA similarly dictate the evolution of autonomous vehicles, forming a new doctrine where DNA dictates car functions?

It’s as though the intelligence of cars is evolving through this continuous iteration of past data, signaling an intriguing era of biodigital convergence.

Moreover, envisioning industry competitors like Tesla, Xpeng, Kia, Honda, and numerous others engaging in an evolutionary competition to refine their synthetic DNA datasets for superior performance presents a fascinating perspective.

Cars with inferior DNA datasets would (quite literally) crash out, allowing competitors with superior (and safer) data genetics to take over the road.

This notion that DNA might drive the evolution of future cars is somewhat captivating and offers an intriguing glimpse into what lies ahead.

Further Reflections

And just a quick side note: I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a “petrol head” (or rather, an “electric head”), nor an avid fan of car technology; but exploring this subject concerning my interests in biodigital convergence, especially DNA-based digital data storage, has been quite intriguing.

I’m fascinated by how these advancements might impact our daily lives.

And while this article has been mostly optimistic about the prospects of DNA data storage for automobiles, it is always beneficial to provide a more balanced perspective, including potential challenges, limitations, or ethical considerations associated with implementing such a technology.

Book recommendation*

We know some of you might be new to DNA data storage technology, and it can feel a bit overwhelming to reframe how we think about DNA. If you're interested in exploring DNA beyond its role in genetics, I can recommend a beginner-friendly book that we found really helpful in understanding its broader potential. Do check it out!"

*NB: above link for the book is an affiliate link, meaning if you click and buy the book, I will make a small commission at no cost to you.

Further References

Thank you for reading this article. What are your thoughts on the article and the concept of synthetic DNA contributing to the future evolution of cars? Did it cover everything you expected, or do you feel important aspects are missing?

Do you have any ethical objections or safety concerns given the biological nature of how the data would be stored?

Or perhaps you are curious about DNA data storage and have questions about the finer details of how it would fit in the chain of car development and manufacture.

We’d love to hear your feedback, comments, and suggestions!