Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Talanta 74 (2007) 318–325 Review Nanomaterial-based electrochemical DNA sensing strategies Arzum Erdem ∗ Ege University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Analytical Chemistry Department, 35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey Received 29 June 2007; received in revised form 28 September 2007; accepted 3 October 2007 Available online 13 October 2007 In honor of Prof. Joseph Wang’s 60th birthday who is the pioneer of electrochemical (bio)sensors. Abstract DNA sensing strategies have recently been varieted with the number of attempts at the development of different biosensor devices based on nanomaterials, which will further become DNA microchip systems. The investigations at the side of material science in connection with electrochemical biosensors open new directions for detection of specific gene sequences, and nucleic acid–ligand interactions. An overview is reported here about nanomaterial-based electrochemical DNA sensing strategies principally performed for the analysis of specific DNA sequences and the quantification of nucleic acids. Important features of electrochemical DNA sensing strategies, along with new developments based on nanomaterials are described and discussed. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Nanomaterials; Biosensors; DNA; Electrochemical transducers; Nanoparticles; Carbon nanotubes; Guanine; Adenine Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 318 2. Nanomaterial-based electrochemical DNA sensing strategies ................................................................ 319 2.1. Electrochemical DNA sensing strategies using magnetic particles/nanoparticles connected with biological molecules labelled with metal tags .................................................................................. 320 2.2. Electrochemical DNA sensing strategies using carbon nanotubes and other nanomaterials ................................ 323 3. Conclusions and future perspectives ....................................................................................... 323 Congratulations ......................................................................................................... 324 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 324 References ............................................................................................................. 324 1. Introduction Recent progress in biosensing technologies based on nano- materials has resulted by the development of several novel sensor devices with their challenging applications. Modern biomedical sensors developed with advanced microfabrication and signal processing approaches are becoming inexpensive, accurate, and reliable. This progress in miniature devices and instrumentation development will significantly impact the practice of medical ∗ Tel.: +90 232 388 0110x5131; fax: +90 232 388 5258. E-mail address: arzum.erdem@ege.edu.tr. care as well as future advances in the biomedical industry [1]. Electrochemical, optical, and acoustic wave sensing technolo- gies have currently emerged as some of the most promising biosensor technologies. The use of nucleic acid technologies has significantly improved preparation and diagnostic procedures in life sciences. Various combination of DNA associated with different types of transducers are an attractive subject of research. Nucleic acid layers combined with electrochemical or optical transducers pro- duce a new kind of affinity biosensors as DNA biosensor for small molecular weight molecules [1–6]. The detection of DNA has a particular interest in genetics, pathology, criminology, pharmacogenetics, food safety and many other fields. 0039-9140/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2007.10.012