From: Agilent Technologies’ AFM University Website.

Single Molecule Conductance of DNA Bases and Sequencing by Tunneling; Imaging Nucleic Acids with the AFM
Running time: 56 minutes
April 8, 2009
Speakers: Stuart Lindsay, PhD Arizona State University, Edward and Nadine Carson Professor of Physics and Chemistry Biodesign Institute; W. Travis Johnson, PhD, Research Scientists, Agilent Technologies

Single Molecule Conductance of DNA Bases and Sequencing by Tunneling.
The scanning probe microscope is a great tool for measuring the conductance of single molecules. Tunneling current measurements are sensitive to the hydrogen bonding between base-pairs, while measurements of the conductance of base-nucleoside pairs yields a value for their absolute conductance, opening the way to design of a device that sequences DNA by means of tunneling measurements.

“Imaging Nucleic Acids with the AFM”
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) can be used to obtain highly accurate, nanometer scale images of nucleic acids, including DNA and RNA, in air or in physiological conditions. This makes the AFM a powerful analytical tool to study the structure and function of DNA. In this seminar the study of nucleic acids via AFM will be discussed and explored.