New steps towards a fast, low-cost DNA sequencing device

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Yale University have developed a new concept for use in a high-speed genomic sequencing device that may potentially drive down costs.
The cost would allow genomic sequencing to be used in everyday medical and clinical practices. This research is part of a project by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health to support the science needed to bring the cost of sequencing a human genome down to $1,000. The institute researchers have created nanopores with a radio-frequency electric field capable of trapping segments of DNA and other biomolecules. Scientists are also able to control the size and stability of virtual nanopores by external electric fields; this could not have been accomplished with a physical nanopore.