Minority Predoctoral Fellowship Program

University Of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Much research in recent years has been directed toward the development of facile methods for the detection of nucleic acids and the potential application of such bioassays to the clinical detection of specific nucleic acid molecules or sequences. Methods such as RT-PCR and fluorescence detection involve several steps and expensive equipment. Electrochemical methods for the detection of nucleic acids allow direct detection of specific nucleic acid sequences at low concentrations. The use of microelectrode arrays may allow use of such electrochemical methods as low-cost, clinically useful nucleic acid biosensors. The electropolymerization method used here provides a method of specifically attaching the DNA onto electrodes that are smaller than a micropipettor (50 microns). Present microarray technology relies on fluid dispensing equipment or photolithography, both of which are limited to 50 microns. Thus, the electropolymerization method will provide for smaller microarrays with a greater diagnostic capacity, allowing a greater number of genetic markers to be probed at once.