DNA wires for biologically based electronics

Ohio State University researchers have invented a process for uncoiling long strands of DNA and forming them into precise patterns.

Ultimately, these DNA strands could act as wires in biologically based electronics and medical devices, said L. James Lee, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State University.

In the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lee and postdoctoral researcher Jingjiao Guan describe how they used a tiny rubber comb to pull DNA strands from drops of water and stamp them onto glass chips.

Other labs have formed very simple structures with DNA, and those are now used in devices for gene testing and medical diagnostics. But Lee and Guan are the first to coax strands of DNA into structures that are at once so orderly and so complex that they resemble stitches on a quilt.

“These are very narrow, very long wires that can be designed into patterns for molecular electronics or biosensors,” Lee said. “And in our case, we want to try to build tools for gene delivery, DNA recombination, and maybe even gene repair, down the road.”