In the diagnosis of genetic diseases and disorders, nanomaterials-based gene detection systems have significant advantages over conventional diagnostic systems in terms of simplicity, sensitivity, specificity, and portability. In this review, we describe the application of nanomaterials for disease-related genes detection in different methods excluding PCR-related method, such as colorimetry, fluorescence-based methods, electrochemistry, microarray methods, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) methods, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The most commonly used nanomaterials are gold, silver, carbon and semiconducting nanoparticles. Various nanomaterials-based gene detection methods are introduced, their respective advantages are discussed, and selected examples are provided to illustrate the properties of these nanomaterials and their emerging applications for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences.
Keywords: Biosensor; DNA; Disease; Gene detection; Nanomaterials.
Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.