Researchers at Osaka University in Japan have found that proteins can store data. Professor Tetsuro Majima has developed a new method for spatiotemporally regulating fluorescent proteins. He can array a pattern of proteins using a photochemical technique, read the pattern and then erase the surface using photoirradiation. This process is useful for holding information. such as binary code for storage of data.

Memory devices based on biological building blocks have numerous advantages verses traditional magnetic devices. Protein devices should be immune to magnetic interference and thus the danger of a rogue magnet erasing your memory will be obsolete.  Another advantage is it is believed memory capacities will be larger with a protein hard drive.

A lot of hard work is still left before this is a commercially viable technology. Currently the protein memory has the greatest stability at 4 degrees Celsius.  However, this is not an acceptable temperature for a consumer computer product.  Furthermore, the protein patterns take about one minute to write, a time far too long for traditional memory.