DNA Strands Can Be Turned into Molecular Wires

In a groundbreaking study that may finally unlock the computers of the future, investigators in the United States were able to determine that strands of DNA can be used as molecular wires.

The strands themselves should be about 34 nanometers (nm) long, the team says. As a molecular wire, the material could be used to set the foundation for the next generation of computers, that use nanoscale electronics rather than existing technologies.

According to experts around the world, the electronics industry is currently going out of its way to develop new miniaturization technologies that could be used to create smaller and smaller devices.

But, at some point, the level of miniaturization possible is bound to reach a limit. This is why manufacturers are seeking to move away from the traditional materials now being used, and start basing their new generations of devices on molecular wires.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a wonderful place to start, especially due to the helical nature of its strand. Around this structure, electrons can easily be delocalized, and then recruited to move in a specific direction, essentially transporting a charge down the new molecular wire.

According to the research team behind the new work, the DNA strands that can be used for this application need to be made up of about 100 base pairs, which in total cover 34 nm.

Apparently, if this precise length were kept in mind, then the low electrical current traveling through the new structures would not damage the DNA strand, say investigators from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in Pasadena.

But there are also many other advantages that using DNA has over using conventional wires, such as for instance their flexibility, and their ability to be fashioned with great flexibility from the get-go.

“In the field of molecular wire technology, DNA is right up there,” explains Caltech team leader and research scientist Jacqueline Barton, quoted by Chemistry World. She adds that any imperfection in the DNA strand would reduce current flow by a significant amount.

“It turns out that if you put a nick or break in the sugar phosphate backbone [of the DNA], it won't interrupt the current flow. But if you make a break in the base pairs, the current flow is interrupted,” she goes on to say.