DNA Knot Malleability in Single-Digit Nanopores

DNA detection with single asymmetric nanopores in polyimide

The concept is easy to understand: A membrane with a single pore of appropriate size (diameter comparable to that of the molecule to detect) separates the two halves of an electrochemical cell. The cell is filled with an electrolyte, and a voltage is applied across the membrane. In the absence of any biomolecules in the solution, a steady flow of ions is measured as a constant current. As soon ...

Behavior of single DNA molecules in the well-ordered nanopores.

Here we describe a simple approach to fabricate robust three-dimensional periodic porous nanostructures inside the microchannels. In this approach, the colloidal crystals were first grown inside the microchannel using an evaporation-assisted self-assembly process. Then the void spaces among the colloidal crystals were filled with epoxy-based negative tone photoresist. After subsequent developme...

Using Nanopores to Discriminate Between Single Molecules of DNA

DNA translocation through single-layer boron nitride nanopores.

Ultra-thin nanopores have become promising biological sensors because of their outstanding signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution. Here, we show that boron nitride (BN), which is a new two-dimensional (2D) material similar to graphene, could be utilized for making a nanopore with an atomic thickness. Using an all-atom molecular dynamics simulation, we investigated the dynamics of DNA tran...

Gating of Single Synthetic Nanopores by DNA Molecular Switching

Switchable ion channels that are made of membrane proteins play crucial role in cellular circuits. Thereby synthetic nanofluidic channels attract great interest owing to the novel ion transport properties that are helpful for understanding the biological ion channels and for the promising applications on ultrasensitive molecular detection and separation [1]. Here we report a synthetic nanopore-...