The DNA is a highly tangled string that even seasoned fishermen would be impressed by. Conventional DNA sequencing breaks up the molecule into tiny pieces that are then reconstructed using a computer. DNA mapping relies on longer sections to identify the general structure of a string, but stretching out this complicated molecule has been a challenge. Now researchers at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium have worked out a new technique of unraveling DNA into a flat string that can be easily studied.
This new “rolling droplet” method involves injecting a DNA molecule into a droplet of water and then dragging the droplet across a surface coated with a polymer called Zeonex. The polymer naturally sticks to the DNA, so as the droplet is pushed with a pipette and rolls along the Zeonex surface, the DNA binds to the surface and comes out straight and intact.
To see whether the technique works as described, the team unrolled a known virus DNA and measured its length, comparing it to its known length. The results matched.
“Our technique requires very little start-up materials and can be carried out quickly. It could be very effective in determining whether a patient is infected with a specific type of virus, for example. In this study, we focused on viral DNA, but the technique can just as easily be used with human or bacterial DNA,” said KU Leuven engineer Wouters Sempels.
Study in ACS Nano: Combing of Genomic DNA from Droplets Containing Picograms of Material…
Source: KU Leuven…