Nanopore Chemistry
The alpha-hemolysin nanopore has been characterised and studied at
great length by the founder Professor Hagan Bayley, other Company
collaborators, and extensively within the Company.
DNA sequencing
In 2008, Oxford Nanopore published a paper in
Nature Nanotechnology that demonstrated chemical modifications to the nanopore. These allow
the identification of individual DNA bases to a standard commensurate
with a high resolution DNA sequencing technology. In addition the
paper demonstrated the direct identification of the modified base
Methylated Cytosine. To order an e-print of this paper click
here,
choosing 'e-print' from the drop own box.
The following figure shows an electronic trace of DNA
bases in solution entering the nanopore. The bases individually, transiently bind to
the cyclodextrin adapter. Each time a base passes through the pore
there is a disruption in the current. The diagram shows four different
magnitudes of disruption which can be classified as C, G, A or T.
These data points can be displayed on
a histogram, shown below, to illustrate how the identify of a single
base is calculated. As the signal is electronic rather than optical,
if there is a base ambiguity it is two-way rather than four-way.
The following histogram shows the addition of the modified base
methylated cytosine, which can be directly distinguished from the four
standard bases.

Other target analytes
Other modifications have been made to a protein nanopore to allow
the identification of different target analytes, including proteins and
small molecules. For a full list of publications click here. Oxford
Nanopore is currently exploring the use of other modifications to the
nanopore in combination with its sensor chip technology.
Join our Chemistry team
Oxford Nanopore has a large team, led by
Dr John Milton, working on the development of our
nanopore chemistry, and we are seeking talented chemists to help us
progress the technology still further. Visit
our careers page for more information.