Patent ID: 6902895

Claim:
A method of detecting a nucleic acid having at least two portions comprising: (a) contacting the nucleic acid with a substrate having oligonucleotides attached thereto, the oligonucleotides being located between a pair of electrodes, the oligonucleotides having a sequence complementary to a first portion of the sequence of said nucleic acid, the contacting taking place under conditions effective to allow hybridization of the oligonucleotides on the substrate with said nucleic acid; (b) contacting said nucleic acid bound to the substrate with a first type of nanoparticles, the nanoparticles being made of a material which can conduct electricity, the nanoparticles having one or more types of oligonucleotides attached thereto, at least one of the types of oligonucleotides having a sequence complementary to a second portion of the sequence of said nucleic acid, the contacting taking place under conditions effective to allow hybridization of the oligonucleotides on the nanoparticles with said nucleic acid, wherein the oligonucleotides are attached to the nanoparticles in a stepwise aging process comprising (i) contacting the oligonucleotides with the nanoparticles in a first aqueous solution for a period of time sufficient to allow some of the oligonucleotides to bind to the nanoparticles; (ii) adding at least one salt to the aqueous solution to create a second aqueous solution; and (iii) contacting the oligonucleotides and nanoparticles in the second aqueous solution for an additional period of time to enable additional oligonucleotides to bind to the nanoparticles; and (c) detecting a change in conductivity.