A DNA double helix in an undated artist's illustration released by the National Human Genome Research Institute. (Source: Reuters)

Church, a professor of genetics at the Harvard Medical School, helped develop the first direct genomic sequencing method in 1984. He was also a member of the team that initiated the Human Genome Project that year as a scientist working at Biogen Inc.

The Harvard researchers stored 5.5 petabits, or 1 million gigabits, per cubic millimeter in the DNA storage medium. Because of the slow process for setting down the data, the researchers consider the DNA storage medium currently suitable only for data archive purposes.

"The information density and scale compare favorably with other experimental storage methods from biology and physics," Kosuri said.

The team also included Yuan Gao, a former Wyss postdoctoral scholar and now an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University.