The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 21, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2000
Clifford A. Megerle, Thousand Oak, CA (US);
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (US);
Abstract
An improved biological probe is disclosed that employs a plurality of groups of modified single-stranded DNA attached to a single electrode. Using a plurality of such groups increases the inherent sensitivity of the probe by providing additional hybridization location sites and also serves to improve performance by diminishing steric hindrance caused by the crowding and tangling of the long single-stranded oligionucleotide molecules. The modification of the oligionucleotides involves the attachment of electron donor and acceptor moieties that alters the electrochemical properties of the hybridized molecules. The selected groups of modified oligionucleotides are complementary to unique characteristic sequences of the target DNA or RNA. A sample that containing oligionucleotides of a target biological agent is brought into contact with the probe and complementary portions of the molecules will hybridize with the oligionucleotides attached to the probe. When voltage is applied to the electrode, current will flow through the hybridized molecules with little resistance. Measurement of the current or changes in the current within the probe will indicate the presence of target DNA or RNA.