Professor D. W. Deamer
Department of Biomolecular Engineering
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

The ultimate goal of our research is to perform single molecule analysis of base sequences in nucleic acids at rates exceeding thousands of bases per second. To this end, we have found that single-stranded DNA and RNA molecules in solution can be driven through a nanoscopic pore by an applied electric field. As each molecule occupies the pore, a characteristic blockade of ionic current is produced. Information about length, composition, structure and dynamic motion of the molecule can be deduced from modulations of the current blockade. In recent collaborative studies with Mark Akeson here at UCSC, we have also captured single molecules of DNA that have formed complexes with DNA-processing enzymes such as Exonuclease I and the Klenow fragment. Our expectation is that enzymatic  'molecular machines' will control the rate of nucleic acid motion through the pore in such a way that single nucleotide resolution can be achieved.

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