Good news!
"The compact, portable, inexpensive device incorporates a graphene transistor to which all the DNA strands in a sample are tethered. When those strands are exposed to an alternating electric field, they oscillate in place. If the sensor detects the unique oscillation frequency which is already known to be produced by the target DNA, it lets the user know that the DNA is present in the sample. ..."
"... That’s where this method is different. The test sample is put within an alternating electric field. Then, “We let the DNA dance,” he says. “When the strands of DNA dance, they have a specific oscillation frequency.” Researchers can then read samples to see if there is a molecule moving in a way that matches the movement of the target DNA and easily distinguish it from different movement patterns. This even works when there is a very low concentration of the target DNA.
This new method has huge implications for speeding up disease detection. First, because it is so sensitive, diagnoses can happen at earlier stages of a disease progression, which can greatly impact health outcomes.
Also, this method takes minutes, not days, weeks or months, because it’s all electric. ..."
Also, this method takes minutes, not days, weeks or months, because it’s all electric. ..."
From the significance and abstract:
"Significance
Miniaturized, high-precision DNA analysis holds significant potential for advancing biotechnology development and enabling applications in diagnostics, healthcare, and drug discovery. DNA detection using all-electronic devices offers a promising pathway to unlock this potential. However, existing all-electronic methods are prone to limited specificity and detection limit due to interference from nonspecific electrostatic and electrochemical interactions induced by prevalent charged species in solutions. To address this challenge, we drive nanostructural DNA strands, tethered to a graphene transistor, to oscillate in an alternating electric field. We find that the resulting transistor-current spectral characteristics are resistant to the interference interactions, leading to ultrahigh specificity and a detection limit improved by two orders of magnitude compared to existing methods.
Abstract
Electronic detection of DNA oligomers offers the promise of rapid, miniaturized DNA analysis across various biotechnological applications. However, known all-electrical methods, which solely rely on measuring electrical signals in transducers during probe–target DNA hybridization, are prone to nonspecific electrostatic and electrochemical interactions, subsequently limiting their specificity and detection limit. Here, we demonstrate a nanomechanoelectrical approach that delivers ultra-robust specificity and a 100-fold improvement in detection limit. We drive nanostructural DNA strands tethered to a graphene transistor to oscillate in an alternating electric field and show that the transistor-current spectra are characteristic and indicative of DNA hybridization. We find that the inherent difference in pliability between unpaired and paired DNA strands leads to the spectral characteristics with minimal influence from nonspecific electrostatic and electrochemical interactions, resulting in high selectivity and sensitivity. Our results highlight the potential of high-performance DNA analysis based on miniaturized all-electronic settings."
Bioengineering Breakthrough Increases Dna Detection Sensitivity By 100 Times (primary news source) University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers discover letting small amounts of DNA ‘dance’ can speed disease detection
This device detects DNA with a 100-fold greater sensitivity than traditional methods using an alternating electric current.
No comments:
Post a Comment