This blog supports the CH795 Special Topics in Chemistry courses taught by Dr. Gavin Williams and Dr. Alex Deiters at North Carolina State University. Please include an illustrative figure when you post a blog entry.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Transducing Methyltransferase Activity into Electrical Signals in a Carbon Nanotube-DNA Device
This paper reminded me of the lecture presented by the PLU speaker last year. They are able bind DNA to two carbon nanotubes and detect the conductivity of the DNA. With this setup they can detect whether the DNA has been methylated or not. The methylated DNA along with M. Sssl causes a conformational change that decreases the conductivity of the DNA.
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I think this is really cool, and if the methyltransferase was coupled to a molecular logic gate this tool could be used in computing. Imagine a demethylase under control of a different logic gate for the same DNA-CNT structure. You could switch on and off electrical signals.
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