DNA Makes Nano Barcode - New Technology

Duke University researchers have programmed strands of synthetic DNA to self-assemble into a structure that makes the pattern encoded in a DNA strand readable by microscope.

Key to the method was coaxing columns of looped and non-looped strands of DNA stack into a barcode-like lattice. The researchers' prototype five-bit barcode was 75 nanometers long—about the span of 750 hydrogen atoms.

The method could eventually be used to make templates that will enable molecule-by-molecule construction of electronic circuits.

The method could be ready for practical use in 5 to 8 years, according to the researchers. The work appeared in the June 23, 2003 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Posted 2^nd July 2003