Nanoscaled biological gated field effect transistors for cytogenetic analysis

Cytogenetic analysis is the study of chromosome structure and function, and is often used in cancer diagnosis, as many chromosome abnormalities are linked to the onset of cancer. A novel label free detection method for chromosomal translocation analysis using nanoscaled field effect transistors (FET) is presented here. The FET is gated by the hybridization of the target DNA on the semiconducting nanowire. The results show an extreme sensitivity to the hybridization process, so that the hybridization and dehybridisation can be followed in real time. The nanoscaled FET is made of polysilicon using standard UV lithography enabling batch processing of the sensors.