Detecting Single Biomolecules with Nanopore Sensors - Fundamental Biophysics and Potential Applications

Synopsis

In recent years, nanopore sensors, i.e. biological or solid-state devices consisting of a solitary nanopore as sensing element, have been developed towards a whole range of applications, including single-molecule DNA analysis and the detection of proteins and protein/DNA interactions [1].

Interestingly, ‘stochastic’ nanopore sensors provide a means to resolve sub-molecular features at the single-molecule level. Work has been carried out on different approaches to biosensing with sub-molecular resolution, for example by integrating a functional tunnelling junction into a nanopore device for DNA sequencing-by-tunnelling applications [2].

Moreover, specific binders have been used that recognise particular DNA sequences or their chemical modification, with the ultimate goal of using nanopore sensors for gene profiling and the detection of epigenetic modification. In this presentation, Dr Albrecht will discuss the fundamental principles of nanopore sensing as well as the potential and current challenges of this technology.

[1] A.Bahrami et al., ‘Solid-state nanopores for bionsensing with sub molecular resolution’, Biochemical Society Transactions 2012,40, 624-628
[2] A.P Ivanov et al., ‘DNA tunnelling detector embedded in a nanopore.” Nano Lett, 2011, 11, 279-285

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Speaker

Dr Tim Albrecht
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London