DNA sequencing using STM
Stuart Lindsay and his collaborators use genetic material to bridge the gap between a scanning tunneling microscope and a sample of interest.
As the tip scans along the surface, the genetic material either bonds or ignores the underlying genetic material - leading to a varying tunneling current. The resulting image reveals the identity of the DNA sample under inspection.
Quantum physics could come to the aid of medical science as a new technique for identifying DNA utilizes the quantum effect of tunneling. The method, developed by physicists in the US, will enable users to read genetic codes directly by studying DNA with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). This new approach could be developed into a low cost commercial technique for sequencing DNA, say the researchers.
An electric bond: biology and quantum physics
Unlocking the secret of the human genome in 2003 involved more than a decade’s hard graft at a cost of more than $1 bn. The technology that made it possible is known informally as the “shotgun approach” because it involves replicating a strand of DNA millions of times before blasting the replicates into tiny fragments
<< full article, from Physics World >>
© Institute of Physics (the “Institute”) and IOP Publishing.
As the tip scans along the surface, the genetic material either bonds or ignores the underlying genetic material - leading to a varying tunneling current. The resulting image reveals the identity of the DNA sample under inspection.
Quantum physics could come to the aid of medical science as a new technique for identifying DNA utilizes the quantum effect of tunneling. The method, developed by physicists in the US, will enable users to read genetic codes directly by studying DNA with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). This new approach could be developed into a low cost commercial technique for sequencing DNA, say the researchers.
An electric bond: biology and quantum physics
Unlocking the secret of the human genome in 2003 involved more than a decade’s hard graft at a cost of more than $1 bn. The technology that made it possible is known informally as the “shotgun approach” because it involves replicating a strand of DNA millions of times before blasting the replicates into tiny fragments
<< full article, from Physics World >>
© Institute of Physics (the “Institute”) and IOP Publishing.
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