Functionalized nanopore-embedded electrodes for rapid DNA sequencing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel nanopore-embedded electrode design for DNA sequencing that can reliably distinguish all four nucleic acid bases, potentially enabling rapid and cost-effective genome analysis.

Contribution

The study proposes a new functionalized nanopore-embedded electrode setup that improves base discrimination in DNA sequencing using advanced theoretical modeling.

Findings

Current responses differ by at least one order of magnitude for different bases

The proposed setup offers a more robust read-out of DNA sequences

Potential for rapid, reliable, and cost-effective genome sequencing

Abstract

The determination of a patient's DNA sequence can, in principle, reveal an increased risk to fall ill with particular diseases [1,2] and help to design "personalized medicine" [3]. Moreover, statistical studies and comparison of genomes [4] of a large number of individuals are crucial for the analysis of mutations [5] and hereditary diseases, paving the way to preventive medicine [6]. DNA sequencing is, however, currently still a vastly time-consuming and very expensive task [4], consisting of pre-processing steps, the actual sequencing using the Sanger method, and post-processing in the form of data analysis [7]. Here we propose a new approach that relies on functionalized nanopore-embedded electrodes to achieve an unambiguous distinction of the four nucleic acid bases in the DNA sequencing process. This represents a significant improvement over previously studied designs [8,9] which cannot reliably distinguish all four bases of DNA. The transport properties of the setup investigated by us, employing state-of-the-art density functional theory together with the non-equilibrium Green's Function method, leads to current responses that differ by at least one order of magnitude for different bases and can thus provide a much more robust read-out of the base sequence. The implementation of our proposed setup could thus lead to a viable protocol for rapid DNA sequencing with significant consequences for the future of genome related research in particular and health care in general.