Researchers from the University of California, Davis have discovered a method of using DNA as an electromechanical switch, giving it the potential to be used in nanoscale computing and electronics. Its ability to be utilized in these applications stems from its conductance, referring to how easy electric current can pass through it, which can be modulated by controlling its structure.
The team altered the structure of DNA's double helix design through environmental modification, allowing them to control its conductance in a reversible manner. Using this modification method, researchers may eventually be able to use DNA in nanodevices and operate using a completely different kind of design paradigm than electronic devices that exist today.
"As electronics get smaller they are becoming more difficult and expensive to manufacture, but DNA-based devices could be designed from the bottom-up using directed self-assembly techniques such as 'DNA origami'," Josh Hihath, senior author of the paper, said in a press release. "Considerable progress has been made in understanding DNA's mechanical, structural, and self-assembly properties and the use of these properties to design structures at the nanoscale. The electrical properties, however, have generally been difficult to control."
In addition to the benefits in nanoscale fabrication, DNA-based devices could also improve the energy efficiency of electronic devices.
"There's no reason that computation must be done with traditional transistors. Early computers were fully mechanical and later worked on relays and vacuum tubes," Hihath said. "Moving to an electromechanical platform may eventually allow us to improve the energy efficiency of electronic devices at the nanoscale."
The study was published in the Dec. 9 issue of the journal Nature Communications.
