Colloquium: Physical approaches to DNA sequencing and detection
- Creators
- Zwolak, Michael
- Di Ventra, Massimiliano
Abstract
With the continued improvement of sequencing technologies, the prospect of genome-based medicine is now at the forefront of scientific research. To realize this potential, however, a revolutionary sequencing method is needed for the cost-effective and rapid interrogation of individual genomes. This capability is likely to be provided by a physical approach to probing DNA at the single-nucleotide level. This is in sharp contrast to current techniques and instruments that probe (through chemical elongation, electrophoresis, and optical detection) length differences and terminating bases of strands of DNA. Several physical approaches to DNA detection have the potential to deliver fast and low-cost sequencing. Central to these approaches is the concept of nanochannels or nanopores, which allow for the spatial confinement of DNA molecules. In addition to their possible impact in medicine and biology, the methods offer ideal test beds to study open scientific issues and challenges in the relatively unexplored area at the interface between solids, liquids, and biomolecules at the nanometer length scale. This Colloquium emphasizes the physics behind these methods and ideas, critically describes their advantages and drawbacks, and discusses future research opportunities in the field.
Additional Information
©2008 The American Physical Society. (Published 2 January 2008) We thank M. Ramsey for useful discussions, J. Lagerqvist and N. Bushong for a critical reading of the manuscript, and A. Meller for providing information about his suggested sequencing method before publication. M.Z. acknowledges support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and M.D. acknowledges support from the National Human Genome Research Institute of NIH, Grant No. 2 R01 HG002647-03.Files
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 10431
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:ZWOrmp08
- Created
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2008-05-06Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field