Lizeng Gao1, Jiamin Wu1, Di Gao1, and Jianzhong Wu2. (1) Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1249 Benedum Hall, 3700 O' Hara street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, (2) Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, Bourns Hall A242, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521
The authors report that long DNA molecules of different lengths can be separated under a stretching force by cleaving hydrogen bonds that tether one end of the DNA to a substrate. This separation method can be implemented with a simple direct current electric field, does not require separation matrices, and, in principle, has no upper limit on the length of the DNA that can be efficiently separated. Here, they demonstrate efficient separation of lambda DNA (48 502 base pairs) from human genomic DNA (>100 000 base pairs) using this method.