CPM Seminar

Electron tunneling as a probe of chemical bonding - a new approach to DNA sequencing

Stuart Lindsay

Arizona State University

Electron tunneling is exponentially sensitive to the position of atoms in a tunnel gap, giving it enormous potential for interfacing chemistry with electronics. However, it is also very sensitive to contamination and thermal fluctuations. To make it work in conditions compatible with biology, we are exploring schemes where reagents, chemically tethered to sensing electrodes, capture their targets by forming hydrogen bonds with them, clamping the target in place and completing an electron tunneling path through the target. Combined with a nanopore through which DNA is forced to pass one base at a time, this new approach might enable a new type of rapid single molecule DNA sequencing.