Getting up close to DNA

[kayshapero]

Thank you, Science Daily!

DNA 'cage' could improve nanopore technology
Date:February 10, 2015
Source:Brown University
Summary:
Researchers have designed a tiny cage that can trap a single strand of DNA after it has been pulled through a nanopore. While caged, biochemical experiments can be performed on the strand, which can then be zipped back through the nanopore. The device could enable researchers to probe DNA before and after a reaction takes place.

Despite having a diameter tens of thousands of times smaller than a human hair, nanopores could be the next big thing in DNA sequencing. By zipping DNA molecules through these tiny holes, scientists hope to one day read off genetic sequences in the blink of an eye.

Now, researchers from Brown University have taken the potential of nanopore technology one step further. They have combined a nanopore with a tiny cage capable of trapping and holding a single DNA strand after it has been pulled through the pore. While caged, biochemical experiments can be performed on the strand, which can then be zipped back through the nanopore to look at how the strand has changed.
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Hmm... People have been talking about DNA as a data storage medium (I mean other than the things it stores now), this certainly could help.