In the quest for ever-smaller electronics, DNA could function as a molecular wire, say Jacqueline Barton and her group at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. They report that a 34-nanometre-long monolayer of double-stranded DNA can transport electrical charge.
The researchers measured the current of electrons flowing from a gold electrode, down the DNA layer to a probe at the other end. Charge transport required perfect matching between the DNA's base pairs, with just a single mismatch in 100 base pairs hampering electron flow.
This is among the farthest that a molecular wire has transported charge, the authors say. They add that DNA's intrinsic long-range order, flexibility and ease of synthesis make it an attractive molecule for nanoelectronics.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wired up by DNA strands. Nature 470, 143 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/470143c
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/470143c