Temperature Control in Electrochemical DNA Sensing

Martin      Jacobsen; Gerd-Uwe      Flechsig

Abstract

This paper reviews reports that have considered temperature as an important parameter in electrochemical DNA detection. Only a couple of years after the electrochemical activity of DNA had been discovered in 1958, oscillopolarography in a thermostated cell was applied to study thermal behavior of DNA double strands. DNA premelting was discovered and denaturation curve analysis established. Later it was found that heated electrodes allow simple and easy control over temperature during accumulation, hybridization, dehybridization, and detection. Electrochemical melting curve analysis has been reported recently as an alternative to the classic UV-spectrophotometric counterpart. Most recent developments include electrochemical real time PCR.

Keywords: DNA, electrochemical sensor, temperature, polymerase chain reaction, immobilization, hybridization, PCR amplification, thermocycler, UV-spectroscopy, spectroscopy