Recent Progress in High-Throughput Enzymatic DNA Synthesis for Data Storage

Abstract

DNA has emerged as an attractive medium for storing large amounts of data due to its high information density, long-term stability, and low energy consumption. However, in contrast to commercially available storage media, DNA-based data storage currently falls behind in terms of writing and reading speeds, waste as well as cost. To harness the full potential of DNA as a data storage medium, it is imperative to advance high-throughput DNA synthesis without compromising cost and pollution. Industry-standard phosphoramidite DNA synthesis has reached its limitation because of its short nucleotide length (< 200), overconsumption of organic solvents leading to the production of toxic wastes, and slow writing speed. Enzymatic DNA synthesis shows promise as a replacement with long nucleotides, an environmentally friendly process, and fast writing speed. In this review, we overview enzymatic DNA synthesis methods, evaluate current methods that utilize high-throughput and parallel synthesis, and conclude with comments on how enzymatic DNA synthesis can be the answer to DNA data storage.