DNA transport by a micromachined Brownian ratchet device

Abstract

We have micromachined a silicon-chip device that transports DNA with a Brownian ratchet that rectifies the Brownian motion of microscopic particles. Transport properties for a DNA 50mer agree with theoretical predictions, and the DNA diffusion constant agrees with previous experiments. This type of micromachine could provide a generic pump or separation component for DNA or other charged species as part of a microscale lab-on-a-chip. A device with reduced feature size could produce a size-based separation of DNA molecules, with applications including the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Latex: 8 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Lateral Separation of Macromolecules and Polyelectrolytes in Microlithographic Arrays

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