Biologists and Chemists at Virginia Tech have used visible light to target specific DNA strands for cleavage, a tool used routinely in recombinant DNA.
They will present the research at the 233rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago March 25-29.
"We use visible light to signal the synthesized bioactive molecules to cleave DNA," said Karen Brewer, professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech. "Incorporating a DNA target allows more selectivity. Coupling of the DNA targeting unit allows us to produce colored DNA-Complex assemblies that are easily photoactivated with visible light."
Look for a Wired News story on this new advance soon.
