Professor G. Steven Huang from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor Yu-Shiun Chen from the Department of Biological Science and Technology of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan have successfully developed a more rapid, precise, and economic technique of singe-molecule DNA sequencing. By combining a protein transistor with biological technologies, they can accelerate the process of DNA sequencing in order to provide a better tool for personalized medicine and genetic research. The research was published online on May 5, 2013 in Nature Nanotechnology. DNA sequencing is a key to unveiling the mystery of life. A gene is formed by a sequence of bases (G, A, T, C) and locates in the double helix of DNA. It is the basic unit that determines the genetic characteristics of a creature. A human genome consists of approximately 3 billion DNA base pairs. Even with current technology, the process of DNA sequencing still takes a significant amount of time. The innovative technique developed by the team from NCTU stands out becuse it can significantly reduce the time of the sequencing process and meanwhile also lower the error rate. With this technique, single DNA molecules can be sequenced by monitoring the electrical conductance of a phi29 DNA polymerase as it incorporates unlabelled nucleotides into a template strand of DNA. The conductance of the polymerase is measured by attaching it to a protein transistor. According to Professor Chen, with this technology, they can overcome the obstacles from which other techniques suffer. This will be the very first time that people can see the entire process of polymerase synthesis without the use of fluorescence and other external aids.Login Or Register To Read Full Story