Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 27: Biotechnology and Bioengineering

BP 27.2: Talk

Thursday, March 14, 2013, 10:00–10:15, H43

Synthetic ion channels made from DNA — Martin Langecker, Vera Arnaut, Thomas G. Martin, Jonathan List, Hendrik Dietz, and •Friedrich C. Simmel — Physik Department, TU München

We created a new type of synthetic lipid bilayer membrane channel with user-defined geometric specifications that is constructed entirely from DNA. We show that these synthetic channels can be incorporated into lipid bilayer membranes and we study their electrical properties by single-channel electrophysiological measurements. We find remarkable similarities to the behavior of biological ion channels such as "gating" caused by molecular fluctuations within the channel structure. We also demonstrate one of many potential applications of the synthetic ion channels, namely as single-molecule sensing devices.