title: Study of single-nucleotide polymorphisms by means of electrical conductance measurements.
abstract: Understanding the complexities of DNA has been a hallmark of science for over a half century, and one of the important topics in DNA research is recognizing the occurrence of mutations in the base-stack. In this article, we present a study of SNPs by direct-contact electrical measurements to a single DNA duplex. We have used short, 11- and 12-bp dsDNA to investigate the change in conductance that occurs if a single base pair, a single base, or two separate bases in the stack are modified. All measurements are carried out in aqueous solution with the DNA chemically bound to the electrodes. These measurements demonstrate that the presence of a single base pair mismatch can be identified by the conductance of the molecule and can cause a change in the conductance of dsDNA by as much as an order of magnitude, depending on the specific details of the double helix and the single nucleotide polymorphism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Center for Solid State Electronics Research, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hihath
authors.forename: Bingqian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Peiming
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Nongjian
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tao
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004566:Electrodes; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D004247:DNA