Molecular data storage
Priority Research Programme and Equipments (PEPR)

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PEPR MoleculArXiv

New devices for massive data storage on DNA and artificial polymers

Four interconnected initial projects

DNA Synthesis Next Generation

From digital data to bases

New Polymers as an alternative

Making DNA storage a practical reality

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4 interconnected research projects

Serving digital data storage

Humanity’s memory depends on our ability to manage ever-increasing amounts of data. By 2040, it is estimated that several thousand zettabytes (1021 bytes) of data will need to be stored for periods ranging from a few years to several centuries.

In this context, current storage technologies are insufficient to guarantee the future preservation of such a large amount of data. Storing and archiving it in data centres will not be sustainable in terms of power supply resources and managing equipment obsolescence. The most promising alternative is provided by storing information in the form of DNA, which is stable over very long periods of time and easy to implement.

The five-year objective of the PEPR, and more specifically of the four targeted projects that comprise it, is to deploy the research and infrastructure necessary to accelerate the current speed of the DNA writing/reading cycle by a factor of 100, while reducing its cost by an equivalent factor.

Tree new projects in 2025

A call for projects launched in 2024 identified three projects for their potential to reinforce the programme’s scientific and technological objectives, complementing the research work carried out in the targeted projects.

They explore innovative areas, ranging from the optimisation of read-write systems to the engineering of new polymers able of storing information with increased both stability and density.

The integration of these projects into the MoleculArXiv programme will strengthen synergies between chemistry, biology, computer science and nanotechnology, accelerating the transfer of fundamental results into concrete applications.

Optical sequencing of digital polymers

PEPtide Storage of Information using Spin COrrelation

An electronic chip for large-scale DNA writing

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The MoleculArXiv exploratory research programme on molecular data storage is a fundamental research initiative that forms part of the France 2030 programme. The French government has entrusted the CNRS with the scientific management of this PEPR, which is operated by the ANR.

MoleculArXiv brings together a multidisciplinary scientific community in fields such as chemistry, biology, computer science, microfluidics and nanotechnology through four targeted projects launched at the end of 2022 and three associated projects launched at the end of 2025. With a budget of €20 million over nine years and half, it will enable the development of the knowledge and technologies essential for future mass data storage solutions.

This programme aims to build French leadership and position French academic research in this field at the highest international level.