title: Terahertz-time domain spectroscopy for the detection of PCR amplified DNA in aqueous solution.
abstract: In this work we present a label free quantitative detection method for DNA samples amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in aqueous medium using terahertz-time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the frequency range from 0.3 to 1.2 THz. The DNA samples of 133 and 697 base pairs were prepared using PCR. We measured the absorption coefficients of DNA solutions in the concentration range of 0-0.3 ng μl(-1). For both DNA types, the absorption coefficients decreased with increasing DNA concentrations. The average change in absorption coefficients compared to buffer within the frequency range of 0.8-1.0 THz showed a linear behavior. Our results demonstrate that THz-TDS can detect PCR amplified DNA in aqueous solution with a minimum concentration of 0.1 ng μl(-1) and a minimum sample volume of 10 μl.
authors.affiliation: KIST Europe, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Campus E71, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Trung Quan
authors.initials: TQ
authors.lastname: Luong
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.forename: Young Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Hoon
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manz
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Havenith
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D017931:DNA Primers; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012996:Solutions; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012996:Solutions; D014867:Water; D004247:DNA