(Nanowerk News) Luminescent markers are an indispensable tool for researchers working with DNA. But the markers are troublesome. Some tend to destroy the function and structure of DNA when inserted. Others emit so little light, that they can barely be detected in the hereditary material. So researchers have been asking for alternative markers.
Soren Preus worked out a method of scrutinizing DNA without wrecking it.
Two baseanalogues inserted in DNA allows for measurements of distance and angle.
FRET-measurements are not a new phenomenon. What's new is, that Soren Preus has developed one of the base analogues tCnitro in collaboration with Swedish research institution Chalmers University of Technology. But even more important is the fact, that Mr Preus has used the facilities of the Molecular Engineering Group at University of Copenhagen to analyse every aspect of the energy-transfer between the two markers, because this allows future DNA-researchers to translate measurements to structure.