DNA sieve -- Nanoscale pores can be tiny analysis labs

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Graphic showing a lipid bilayer membrane (blue) with an alpha-hemolysin nanopore. A polyethylene glycol molecule (green globular structure) is transiting the pore others are in solution on one side of the membrane. The colored spheres represent indiv ...
Graphic showing a lipid bilayer membrane (blue) with an alpha-hemolysin nanopore. A polyethylene glycol molecule (green globular structure) is transiting the pore; others are in solution on one side of the membrane. The colored spheres represent individual atoms, and are approximately 0.5 nanometers in diameter, or one twenty-thousandth the width of a human hair. Credit: NIST

Imagine being able to rapidly identify tiny biological molecules such as DNA and toxins using a system that can fit on a microchip or in a drop of salt water. It’s closer than you might think, say a team of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, and Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.


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