A Cornell University research team has used light to hold and move DNA fragments more precisely and over longer distances previously possible. The technique involves condensing and streaming photons along a special type of waveguide with channels of 60nm to 120nm, far smaller than the wavelength of the infrared laser light, 1500nm, being channeled through them. The small size of the channel condenses the light energy to scales closer to those of the DNA molecules and enhances the ability of the photons to interact with them. Because the waveguide is also a nanochannel it can trap and transport the molecules.

The team, whose work was published in Nature on 1 January 2009, hope that it will be possible to refine and develop the technique to routinely trap and move DNA strands.

Source: Science Daily