Electrical conduction through DNA molecules

Hans-Werner Fink () and Christian Schönenberger
Additional contact information
Hans-Werner Fink: Institute of Physics, University of Basel
Christian Schönenberger: Institute of Physics, University of Basel

Nature, 1999, vol. 398, issue 6726, 407-410

Abstract: Abstract The question of whether DNA is able to transport electrons has attracted much interest, particularly as this ability may play a role as a repair mechanism after radiation damage to the DNA helix1. Experiments addressing DNA conductivity have involved a large number of DNA strands doped with intercalated donor and acceptor molecules, and the conductivity has been assessed from electron transfer rates as a function of the distance between the donor and acceptor sites2,3. But the experimental results remain contradictory, as do theoretical predictions4. Here we report direct measurements of electrical current as a function of the potential applied across a few DNA molecules associated into single ropes at least 600 nm long, which indicate efficient conduction through the ropes. We find that the resistivity values derived from these measurements are comparable to those of conducting polymers, and indicate that DNA transports electrical current as efficiently as a good semiconductor. This property, and the fact that DNA molecules of specific composition ranging in length from just a few nucleotides to chains several tens of micrometres long can be routinely prepared, makes DNA ideally suited for the construction of mesoscopic electronic devices.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/18855 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:398:y:1999:i:6726:d:10.1038_18855

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/18855

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().