Can we exploit quantum mechanics to read genes?

S. Lindsay
Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University

Electron tunneling is exponentially sensitive to the position of atoms in a tunnel gap, giving it enormous potential for interfacing chemistry with electronics. However, it is also very sensitive to contamination and thermal fluctuations. To make it work in conditions compatible with biology, we are exploring schemes where reagents, chemically tethered to sensing electrodes, capture their targets by forming hydrogen bonds with them, clamping the target in place and completing an electron tunneling path through the target. The recent discovery that single walled carbon nanotubes can be used as conducting nanopores might enable a new type of rapid single molecule DNA sequencing.