Alternative Test To Detect DNA

Researchers in Singapore are reporting development of a new electronic "nanogap" sensor that is faster, less expensive, and more practical alternative to detect DNA. The traditional method, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), makes multiple copies of trace amounts of DNA, similar to a photocopier printing multiple copies of documents, in order to detect the genetic material more easily. However, this traditional approach is expensive and cumbersome. The "nanogap sensor" translates the presence of DNA into an electrical signal to be measured by a computer with the use of a micro-sized metal pair electrodes separated by a nanogap, 1/50,000 the width of a human hair, in combination with special chemical probes to capture tiny segments of DNA.

Reference: Science Daily