Light addressable electrochemical detection of duplex structures

Abstract

A method of detecting the presence of an analyte, such as a target nucleic acid sequence, protein sequence or small molecule, which can also be employed to detect the formation of duplex structures, is disclosed. The method can comprise nucleic acids, proteins and small molecules, employing photoelectrochemically active nanoparticles, branched polymers or other structures that carry photoelectrochemically active molecules capable of generating a photocurrent when excited by light in the presence of an electric field is disclosed. The method can be employed to detect hybridization on an array and can be employed in sequencing, mutational analysis (for example, single nucleotide polymorphisms and other variations in a population) and for monitoring gene expression by analysis of the level of expression of messenger RNA extracted from a cell. The method is applicable to the detection of antibody binding or other protein binding for analyte detection in an array format. The creation of an array addressable by light is disclosed.