A MoS2-Based Capacitive Displacement Sensor for DNA Sequencing.
We propose an aqueous functionalized molybdenum disulfide nanoribbon suspended over a solid electrode as a capacitive displacement sensor aimed at determining the DNA sequence. The detectable sequencing events arise from the combination of Watson-Crick base-pairing, one of nature's most basic lock-and-key binding mechanisms, with the ability of appropriately sized atomically thin membranes to flex substantially in response to subnanonewton forces. We employ carefully designed numerical simulations and theoretical estimates to demonstrate excellent (79% to 86%) raw target detection accuracy at ∼70 million bases per second and electrical measurability of the detected events. In addition, we demonstrate reliable detection of repeated DNA motifs. Finally, we argue that the use of a nanoscale opening (nanopore) is not requisite for the operation of the proposed sensor and present a simplified sensor geometry without the nanopore as part of the sensing element. Our results, therefore, potentially suggest a realistic, inherently base-specific, high-throughput electronic DNA sequencing device as a cost-effective de novo alternative to the existing methods.
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Boulder, Colorado 80305, United States.
Alex
A
Smolyanitsky
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
Boris I
BI
Yakobson
Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.|Bioinformatics, Hanze University of Applied Sciences , 9747 AS Groningen, The Netherlands.
Tsjerk A
TA
Wassenaar
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Boulder, Colorado 80305, United States.
Eugene
E
Paulechka
Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Boulder, Colorado 80305, United States.
Kenneth
K
Kroenlein
D001483:Base Sequence; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D058608:Nanopores; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon
DNA sequencing; molecular sensing; monolayer molybdenum disulfide; nanoelectromechanical