Bingqian Xu, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, was awarded $360,000 from the National Science Foundation to create electrical junction devices using single DNA molecules that provide high electrical conductivity. The devices will help transfer electrical current with little energy loss at a minute, nanoscale level. The project, which uses tools and techniques from electrical engineering, chemistry and physics, is expected to provide a major advance in electronics miniaturization. The study also may shed light on the mechanisms of the damage and mutation in DNA where charge transport is believed to play an important role.
