Specific detection of DNA through coupling of a TaqMan assay with surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)

DNA probes are fragments of DNA labeled with a reporter tag to enable their detection or purification. The resulting labeled DNA probes can then hybridize to target nucleic acid sequences through complementary base-pairing, and may be used to recover or identify these regions.
Radioisotopes, fluorophores, or small molecule binding partners like biotin or digoxigenin, are the most widely used reporter tags for labeling DNA probes. These labels can be attached to the probe DNA molecule via...

DNA sequencing is a fundamental technique that is routinely used in the biological sciences. This method can be applied to a range of questions at different scales - from the sequencing of a cloned DNA fragment or the study of a mutation in a gene up to whole-genome sequencing. However, despite the widespread use of sequencing today, it was not until 1977 that Fredrick Sanger and his collaborators developed the chain-termination method to decode DNA sequences. It relies on the separation of a...

Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, or Real-time RT-PCR, is an analytical tool used to determine the expression level of target genes. The method involves converting mRNA to complementary DNA with the help of an enzyme known as reverse transcriptase, followed by the PCR amplification of the cDNA. These two processes can be performed simultaneously in a single tube or separately as a two-step reaction.
The real-time quantification of the number of amplified products is...

Agarose gel electrophoresis is very useful in separating DNA fragments by size. Running a DNA ladder containing fragments of the known length alongside the sample helps determine the approximate length of the sample DNA fragments. However, additional steps are needed to verify the sequence identity of the sample DNA fragments.
Denatured DNA fragments must be transferred onto a carrier membrane from the gel to make it accessible to a probe - a small ssDNA fragment complementary to the target DNA...