Category Archives: DNA

Public release date: 6-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Steven Benowitz steven.benowitz@nih.gov 301-451-8325 NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute

The use of nanopore technology aimed at more accurate and efficient DNA sequencing is the main focus of grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The grants nearly $17 million to eight research teams are the latest awarded through the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)'s Advanced DNA Sequencing Technology program, which was launched in 2004. NHGRI is part of NIH.

"Nanopore technology shows great promise, but it is still a new area of science. We have much to learn about how nanopores can work effectively as a DNA sequencing technology, which is why five of the program's eight grants are exploring this approach," said Jeffery A. Schloss, Ph.D., program director for NHGRI's Advanced DNA Sequencing Technology program and director of the Division of Genome Sciences.

Nanopore-based DNA sequencing involves threading single DNA strands through tiny pores. Individual base pairs the chemical letters of DNA are then read one at a time as they pass through the nanopore. The bases are identified by measuring the difference in their effect on current flowing through the pore. For perspective, a human hair is 100,000 nanometers in diameter; a strand of DNA is only 2 nanometers in diameter. Nanopores used in DNA sequencing are 1 to 2 nanometers in diameter.

This technology offers many potential advantages over current DNA sequencing methods, said Dr. Schloss. Such advantages include real-time sequencing of single DNA molecules at low cost and the ability for the same molecule to be reassessed over and over again. Current systems involve isolating DNA and chemically labeling and copying it. DNA has to be broken up, and small segments are sequenced many times. Only the first step of isolating the DNA would be necessary with nanopore technology.

Innovation is crucial in these as well as the other (non-nanopore) studies being funded. For example, one research team eventually hopes to use light to sequence DNA on a cell phone camera chip for under $100.

The new grants are awarded to:

Dr. Aksimentiev and his colleagues plan to use nanopores as sensors. The researchers are studying the effects of combining synthetic nanopores with a light-based technique to control the flow of DNA molecules through the pores. They will use a type of spectroscopy to read the chemical sequence of the DNA.

Dr. Edwards and his colleagues plan to develop innovative molecular biology tools to improve whole-genome sequencing, which entails reading a person's entire genetic blueprint. The researchers hope that better methods of preparing the DNA molecules for sequencing will help scientists identify and link genetic variants to disease and, ultimately, lead to new treatments.

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New NIH awards focus on nanopore technology for DNA sequencing

Sep. 6, 2013 Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms arrayed in a honeycomb pattern, just a single atom thick. It could be a better semiconductor than silicon -- if we could fashion it into ribbons 20 to 50 atoms wide. Could DNA help?

DNA is the blueprint for life. Could it also become the template for making a new generation of computer chips based not on silicon, but on an experimental material known as graphene?

That's the theory behind a process that Stanford chemical engineering professor Zhenan Bao reveals in Nature Communications.

Bao and her co-authors, former post-doctoral fellows Anatoliy Sokolov and Fung Ling Yap, hope to solve a problem clouding the future of electronics: consumers expect silicon chips to continue getting smaller, faster and cheaper, but engineers fear that this virtuous cycle could grind to a halt.

Why has to do with how silicon chips work.

Everything starts with the notion of the semiconductor, a type of material that can be induced to either conduct or stop the flow of electricity. Silicon has long been the most popular semiconductor material used to make chips.

The basic working unit on a chip is the transistor. Transistors are tiny gates that switch electricity on or off, creating the zeroes and ones that run software.

To build more powerful chips, designers have done two things at the same time: they've shrunk transistors in size and also swung those gates open and shut faster and faster.

The net result of these actions has been to concentrate more electricity in a diminishing space. So far that has produced small, faster, cheaper chips. But at a certain point, heat and other forms of interference could disrupt the inner workings of silicon chips.

"We need a material that will let us build smaller transistors that operate faster using less power," Bao said.

Originally posted here:
Scientists use DNA to assemble a transistor from graphene

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Artist creates faces from DNA left in public
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Minister for Justice Alan Shatter: the new Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database) Bill is set to be published by the Minister next Tuesday. Photograph: Bryan OBrien/The Irish Times

Criminals convicted of serious offences will be required to submit a sample of DNA which will be retained on a centralised database to aid the Garda in solving future crimes, under new legislation.

The new Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database) Bill is set to be published by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter next Tuesday after it was approved at yesterdays Cabinet meeting. The move follows repeated broken promises by successive governments on the creation of a DNA database, which is in operation in a large number of countries in the EU and farther afield.

DNA evidence can currently be used to link suspects to crimes and has solved hundreds of cases. However, garda must first identify the suspect on strong grounds before they can demand a DNA sample to cross-check against the DNA collected at a crime scene. Currently, samples cannot be retained for checking in future crimes. If a database existed, a DNA sample gathered from a crime scene or, for example, a gun, could immediately be checked against those many samples stored.

Database The creation of the database follows more than 10 years of legislative reform aimed at strengthening the Gardas hand in dealing with criminals. These have included the use of hearsay evidence in some trials, the power to detain suspects for periods of up to a week without charge, and the ability to plant electronic bugs and use in court the evidence they gather.

One informed security source said while the use of DNA databases in other jurisdictions had been used to catch sex offenders who left samples at the scene of a crime, they are also useful in tackling gangland criminals: If they left a piece of clothing behind, if a balaclava is found in a getaway car they tried to burn out, then [the database] comes into its own, especially in cases where there is no idea who might have been involved. It can throw up a suspect and it might save time in ruling out another suspect.

It is likely that human rights groups will campaign against what they would see as any overly intrusive elements to the law. However, Garda sources said many cases have been frustrated because DNA samples collected at crime scenes could not be checked against a database.

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Criminals will be forced to give DNA sample under new legislation

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