Biological molecules have been attached to diamond surfaces by photochemical immobilisation for the first time.
The attachment of biological molecules to surfaces is an important technique for bioassays such as diagnostic analysis and bioelectronic sensing. Sabine Szunerits, at Laboratoire d'Electrochimie et de Physicochimie des Matériaux et des Interfaces (LEPMI), St. Martins d'Heres, France, and collaborators in France and Japan have successfully fixed DNA to diamond surfaces.
Photochemical oxidation of boron-doped diamond gives surface hydroxyl groups, which have been used to produce a benzophenone-covered surface. 'The benzophenone termination can be activated by light to react with any kind of organic or biological molecule to form a C-C bond,' informed Szunerits.
Patterned DNA arrays have been prepared on the diamond surface by selective photoactivation. 'Photolithography techniques can be used to create patterns and structures at nanometre scales, which will have an impact on biochips and the understanding of ligand-cell interactions,' added Szunerits. These techniques have a large advantage over chemical or mechanical immobilisation when it comes to micropatterning.
Szunerits sees the controlled immobilisation of biological molecules as crucial towards the development of new bioelectronics interfaces, and this attachment of nucleotides to biocompatible diamond surfaces is a significant step towards this aim.
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