Unmatched Precision: Radical DNA-Detecting Device Amplifies Sensitivity by 100-Fold

DNA sequencing has become an essential tool in molecular biology, both in medicine and in many other life science disciplines.

Sequencing was described around 30 years ago and has continued to evolve ever since. This method has become a common technique in molecular biology laboratories, the knowledge acquired through this method and the possibility of sequencing large genomes, such as the human genomes have led scientists to develop increasingly sophisticated sequencing techniques.

Everyone knows today that our hereditary heritage is inscribed in our DNA, a series of three billion bases T, A, G, and C contained in our chromosomes and carrying the approximately twenty thousand sequences (sequences of bases) that constitute our gene, it is this information that directs the synthesis of the thousands of proteins ensuring the structure and functions of the two hundred cell types which constitute a human organism.

Here let’s look into two things, the common method presently used in molecular biology laboratories and the radical method of DNA sequencing 100 times more efficient than the commonly used methods.

Doctors in most cases, to check the health condition of their patients, may check the blood or urine of the patients for the DNA of a specific virus or bacteria, or better still, they may check for a mutant copy of the patient’s own DNA.

A new device that can aid this process will make the work and DNA sequencing techniques more easier, and that is what the latest radical DNA-Detecting Device is made to do, a revolutionized sequencing technique to help health practitioners.

Initially, one of the major problems with the common technique of DNA sequencing lies in the fact that the target DNA might be present in low concentration. Hence, the electrostatic and electrochemical produced by other molecules in the blood or urine sample may drown out the telltale signal produced by the DNA.

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The New Radical DNA Sensor

A team of Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst developed a new sensor that is claimed to be 100 times more sensitive than the existing techniques.

This portable, compact, and economically friendly sensor adopted a graphene transistor to which all the DNA strands in a sample are tethered. These DNA strands begin to oscillate when they are exposed to alternative electric fields, they oscillate in place.

The mechanism is that, when the sensor detects a particular unique oscillating frequency that is expected for the target DNA, it will immediately let the user know that such DNA is present in the sample.

This sensor is capable of detecting every minute quantity of DNA sample through the oscillating frequency method of each DNA, and it delivers this result in minutes, unlike the common method of DNA sequencing which can take weeks or even months.

Asst. Prof. Jinglei Ping is hopeful that when this sensor is developed further, it could have other potential applications like nucleic acid signaling pathways, to comprehend disease mechanisms, identify novel drug targets, and create personalized treatment strategies, including microRNA-targeted therapies.

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Given the uniqueness and specificity of the DNA structure in individuals, the DNA sequence allows many applications in the field of medicine such as diagnosis, paternity study, criminology, understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms, drug synthesis, and epidemiological investigation.

In many publications, the term sequencing can be found under two different terms which are important to know.

In genome study, the term resequencing is used instead of the term sequencing.

Another term is also used: de Novo sequencing, in this case, it involves the sequencing of a genome for which there is no reference sequence. This is therefore the determination of an unknown line. These are other terms that are commonly used during DNA sequencing.

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