Scientists engineer tunable DNA for electronics applications

DNA may be the blueprint of life, but it's also a molecule made from just a few simple chemical building blocks. Among its properties is the ability to conduct an electrical charge, making one of the hottest areas in engineering a race to develop novel, low-cost nanoelectronic devices.

Now, a team led by ASU Biodesign Institute researcher Nongjian (N.J.) Tao and Duke theorist David Beratan has been able to understand and manipulate DNA to more finely tune the flow of electricity through it. The key findings, which can make DNA behave in different ways—-cajoling electrons to smoothly flow like electricity through a metal wire, or hopping electrons about like the semiconductors materials that power our computers and cell phones, paves the way for an exciting new avenue of research advancements.

The results, published in the online edition of Nature Chemistry, may provide a framework for engineering more stable and efficient DNA nanowires, and for understanding how DNA conductivity might be used to identify gene damage.

Building on a series of recent works, the team has been able to better understand the physical forces behind DNA's affinity for electrons. "We've been able to show theoretically and experimentally that we can make DNA tunable by changing the sequence of the "A, T, C, or G" chemical bases, by varying its length, by stacking them in different ways and directions, or by bathing it in different watery environments," said Tao, who directs the Biodesign Center for Biolectronics and Biosensors.