Magnetic Computer Sensors May Help Study Biomolecules

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This still from a video micrograph shows a strand of magnetic particles trapped by a spin valve -- which is highlighted in white -- and rotated by the application of an external rotating magnetic field. NIST is studying the possible use of spin valve ...
This still from a video micrograph shows a strand of magnetic particles trapped by a "spin valve" -- which is highlighted in white -- and rotated by the application of an external rotating magnetic field. NIST is studying the possible use of spin valves arrays for parallel processing of biological molecules. Credit: NIST

Magnetic switches like those in computers also might be used to manipulate individual strands of DNA for high-speed applications such as gene sequencing, experiments at the National Institute of Standards and Technology suggest.


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All News summaries for May 10, 2007

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