Electrical Manipulation of DNA on Metal Surfaces

We review recent work on the active manipulation of DNA on metal substrates by electric fields. This includes the controlled positioning, alignment, or release of DNA on or into dedicated locations and the control of hybridization. In this context, we discuss techniques for immobilizing DNA on metal surfaces and methods of characterizing such hybrid systems. In particular, we focus on electrically induced, conformational changes of monolayers of short oligonucleotides on gold substrates. Such switchable layers allow for molecular dynamics studies at interfaces and have demonstrated large potential in label-free biosensing applications.