Atomic force microscopy-based deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing technique

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-160).Genome Scanning is a powerful new technique for DNA sequencing. The method presented in this thesis uses an atomic force microscope with a functionalized cantilever tip to sequence single stranded DNA immobilized to a mica surface. The functionalized cantilever tip hybridizes with only one base type (A, C, T, or G) and results in distinct peaks in the AFM-produced image. Genome Scanning has been successful at identifying 40 base strands of synthesized DNA and has been shown to detect a particular base type on 48 kilobase strands of lambda DNA. Currently, Genome Scanning is only accurate to 3-26 bases at a time, however, it can achieve a sequencing speed of 6000 bases/sec. In other words, Genome Scanning can be used to sequence the 3 billion bases of the human genome in 5.78 days.by Ahmed Elmouelhi.S.M