Introduction of Hg2+ into an aqueous solution containing oligonucleotide-tethered gold nanoparticle probes and a linker oligonucleotide with a number of thymine−thymine (T−T) mismatches results in the formation of particle aggregates at room temperature with a concomitant colorimetric response. The high selectivity of this detection system is attributed to Hg2+-mediated formation of T−Hg2+−T base pairs as evidenced by an increase in a sharp melting temperature.

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Chemical chameleon: Two complementary approaches to emission color modulation are based on (Ln, P)‐doped YVO4 nanoparticle systems. The emission wavelengths and intensity ratios can be controlled using different host–activator systems and dopant concentrations. This approach allows access to a wide range of colors (see picture) using single‐wavelength excitation.

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A novel chip-based detection approach for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing based on nanoparticle-coupled DNA-templated ligation reactions is reported. In contrast to conventional methods or recently developed techniques, this approach does not need costly instrumentation and complex stringency washing processes and offers both rapid multiplex SNP detection capability and ultrahigh sensitivity. The ability of the approach to quickly identify the precise location of the single-base mismatch may provide a time-efficient method for high-throughput multiplex SNP genotyping.