ABSTRACT
Electrochemical devices have traditionally received the major share of the attention in biosensor technology [3, 5, 6]. The high sensitivity of electrochemical transducers, coupled to their compatibility with modern miniaturization/micro-fabrication technologies, low cost, minimal power requirements, and independence of sample turbidity, make them excellent candidates for DNA diagnostics. In addition, electrochemistry offers innovative routes for interfacing, at the molecular level, the nucleic acid recognition system with the signal-generating element. Direct electrical reading of DNA interactions thus offers great promise for developing simple, rapid, and user-friendly DNA sensing devices (in a manner analogous to miniaturized blood-glucose meters). Such opportunities and electrochemical avenues for generating the hybridization signal are the subject of the present chapter.
