Researchers develop liquid f...( pieces of material. Since now it's in ...)

A next step will be to determine how the DNA structure affects electrical and macroscopic properties of the liquid, he said. So far, he and the others have only used very long DNA in its double helical form, but plan to determine what will happen if they make the molecules shorter or change their shape.

They also would like to figure out how different DNA sequences can provide different electrical signals. That knowledge could enable them or others to create novel circuits capable of storing and moving electronic information.

Ironically, the idea for conducting the complex experiments grew out of discussions that took place during a doctoral student's oral examination, Murray said. Leone adopted the idea for part of his thesis, and the research proved successful almost immediately.

"For the first time, we were able to observe how the DNA affected current flow during oxidation and how the DNA was oxidized in a process known as mediated electrocatalysis," Murray said. "That process is a well-known phenomenon in fluids, but it's never been observed before in a biological molecule like DNA in a semi-solid environment."

Another characteristic of the liquid DNA that might become even more important than the electrochemistry is that it is soluble in a variety of solvents in which ordinary DNA is not, he said.

"That opens the way for scientific studies of DNA in organic solvents and how it interacts with other molecules," Murray said. "We probably won't pursue this ourselves, but we felt it was potentially important enough that we filed a patent disclosure on it."

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Contact: David Williamson
david_williamson@unc.edu
919-962-8596
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
11-Jan-2001