DNA in the Material World: Electrical Properties and Nano-Applications

Abstract

Contradictory experimental findings and theoretical interpretations have spurred intense debate over the electrical properties of the DNA double helix. In the present review article the various factors responsible for these divergences are discussed. The enlightenment of this issue could improve long range chemistry of oxidative DNA damage and repair processes, monitoring protein-DNA interactions and possible applications in nano-electronic circuit technology. The update experimental situation concerning measurements of the electrical conductivity is given. The character of the carriers responsible for the electrical conductivity measured in DNA is investigated. A theoretical model for the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of DNA is presented, based on microscopic models and percolation theoretical arguments. The theoretical results, excluding or including correlation effects, are applied to recent experimental findings for DNA, considering it as a one dimensional molecular wire. The results indicate that correlation effects are probably responsible for large hopping distances in DNA samples. Other theoretical conductivity models proposed for the interpretation of the responsible transport mechanism are also reviewed. Some of the most known and pioneering works on DNA's nano-applications, future developments and perspectives along with current technological limitations and patents are presented and discussed.

Triggering Mechanism for DNA Electrical Conductivity: Reversible Electron Transfer between DNA and Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

“…Notwithstanding experimental findings and theoretical interpretations have spurred intense debate over the electrical properties of DNA, the electronic properties of DNA still remain controversial, and the nature of the carriers responsible for DNA electrical conductivity is still under investigation. It has been demonstrated that both vacancies and electrons can migrate through the DNA helix over distances, as well as, results indicate that correlation effects are probably responsible for large hopping distances in DNA samples . Consequently, electrochemistry of nucleic acids and DNA modified electrodes may provide valuable insights into charge transfer processes and could be exploited in the design of electrochemical DNA‐based biosensors.…”

Sequence and conformation effects on ionization potential and charge distribution of homo-nucleobase stacks using M06-2X hybrid density functional theory calculations

“…Guanines, which have the lowest ionization potentials of the four nucleobases, tend to trap the electron hole after a base-to-base charge transfer process through the stacked nucleobases, resulting from coupling between the overlapping π-orbitals (Giese, 2002). However, direct experimental measurements of long-distance hole transfer in DNA remain the subject of intense debate mainly due to the challenging experimental requirement of working at the nanoscale (Triberis & Dimakogianni, 2009). …”

Density of states and extent of wave function: two crucial factors for small polaron hopping conductivity in 1D

“…To accomplish our task, we developed a novel theoretical approach inspired by the eminent work of Apsley and Hughes [40] in combination with the GMCM [13,17,12,24,26] and references therein. In addition, we combined analytical work with numerical calculations.…”