14^th Euro Biosensors & Bioelectronics Congress

DNA Chips and Nucleic Acid Sensors

Aptamers are oligonucleotide or peptide molecules that bind to a specific target molecule. Aptamers are usually created by selecting them from a large random sequence pool, but natural aptamers also exist inriboswitches. Immunosensors are built by means of the appropriate combination of the biomolecules with the transducer used together, they can be applied in specific analytical situations. Immunosensors commonly rely on the reuse of the same receptor surface for many measurements. A Biochip is a combination of minute DNA spots hooked up to a hard surface. Scientists use DNA Biochips to check the expression levels of huge number of genes at the same time. Each DNA spot contains picomoles of a precised DNA sequence known as a probe. These can be tiny section of a gene or a DNA particle that are used to cross breed a cDNA or cRNA.