DNA electronics in nanotechnology

DNA, the blueprint of life, and electronics seem to be two completely
different things but it appears that DNA could offer a solution to many
of the hurdles that need to be overcome in further scaling down
electronic circuits beyond a certain point. The reason why DNA could be
useful in nanotechnology for the design of electric circuits is the
fact that it actually is the best nanowire in existence – it
self-assembles, it self-replicates and it can adopt various states and
conformations. Not surprisingly, performing reliable experiments on a
single oligo-DNA molecule is an extremely delicate task as partly
contradicting research reports demonstrate: Different DNA transport
experiments have shown that DNA may be insulating, semiconducting, or
metallic. Among the numerous factors that could impact the results are
the quality of the DNA-electrode interface, the base pair, the charge
injection into the molecule, or environmental effects such as humidity
or temperature. Researchers have now demonstrated a novel carbon
nanotube-based nanoelectronic platform as proof of concept that single
DNA molecules can be detected. This novel detection technique is based
on change in electrical conductance upon selective hybridization of the
complementary target DNA with the single stranded probe attached to the
system. The single-stranded sequence-specific probe DNA whose ends are
modified with amine is attached between two carbon nanotubes/nanowires
using dielectrophoresis (DEP). This platform can be used for
understanding how electrical charge moves through DNA which could help
researchers understand and perhaps develop a technique for reversing
the damage of DNA done by oxidation and mutation.
One of the potential applications of the present study would be
identification of specific genes based on the hybridization-induced
change in electrical signal. The researchers explain that their current
detection platform could be used in an application for the electrical
detection of several other gene sequences on a single chip, although
such simultaneous detection of several different gene sequences using
an array of nanoelectrodes is a major challenge which currently is
under investigation by the research team.

This platform could also be used in fundamental research studies
understanding the properties of DNA at single molecular level. The
proposed technology has a wide-range application that includes but not
limited to revealing the presence of disease related genes, bacterial
and viral.