Identification of DNA basepairing via tunnel-current decay.

He, Jin; Lin, Lisha; Zhang, Peiming; Lindsay, Stuart · Nano Lett · 2007

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We propose a new approach for reading the sequence of a DNA molecule passing between electrodes on a nanopore, using hydrogen bond-mediated tunneling signals. The base-electrode interaction is modeled using a nucleo-base-functionalized STM probe that is pulled away from a nucleoside monolayer. Watson-Crick recognition results in slow decay of the tunnel current, which is uniquely characteristic of the basepair in over half the reads. Thirteen independent reads would yield the desired 99.99% accuracy.

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