Ultrafast, Highly Sensitive Label-Free Pathogen Detection Via Chemically Modified Graphene (CMG) Sensors

In this presentation, we demonstrate an ultra-fast, highly sensitive detection of a defined genetic sequence via reversible attachment onto surface modified graphene (SMG), leading to pertinent modification of the inherent electronic density of states, which in turn could be evaluated by I-V measurements. Further, we demonstrate the label free detection of specific DNA and RNA markers of pathogenicity via hybridization with immobilized oligonucleotides on the SMG substrate. Current methods of pathogen detection require hours to days for precise results while the presented method accomplishes close to 90 % accuracy in under a minute. By bypassing the traditional PCR based protracted techniques, this work would enable the development of a standalone, label free, miniaturized, highly sensitive, and re-usable device, for utilization in a variety of molecular diagnostic applications.