Blowing DNA bubbles.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 17090091.
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Abstract
We report here experimental observations which indicate that topologically or covalently formed polymer loops embedded in an ultrathin liquid film on a solid substrate can be "blown" into circular "bubbles" during scanning force microscopy (SFM) imaging. In particular, supercoiled vector DNA has been unraveled, moved, stretched, and overstretched to two times its B-form length and then torn apart. We attribute the blowing of the DNA bubbles to the interaction of the tapping SFM tip with the ultrathin liquid film.
Medical subject headings
- DNA
- Nanostructures