Penn Physicists Overcome Obstacle to Faster DNA Sequencing

The instructions for building all of the body’s proteins are contained in a person’s DNA, a string of chemicals that, if unwound, would form a sentence 3 billion letters long. Each person’s sentence is unique, so learning how to read gene sequences as quickly and inexpensively as possible could pave the way to countless personalized medical applications. 

Researchers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy have now found a way to sequence DNA based on threading that string through a tiny hole and using a nearby sensor to read each letter as it passes.

Their DNA sensor is based on graphene, an atomically thin lattice of carbon with unique electrical properties that the scientists hope to use to make faster and more sensitive sequencing devices. To do so, however, they needed to find a way to drill the hole, or nanopore, in the graphene without the electron microscope ruining the material’s sensitivity. In their latest study, they realized they could drill the nanopores accurately using a less-defined view of the graphene, which left the electrical sensitivity intact. This may eventually help scientists measure DNA 1,000 times faster than current methods.

The team includes Professor of Physics and Astronomy Marija Drndić and members of her laboratory, including graduate student Matthew Puster and postdoctoral researchers Julio Rodríguez-Manzo and Adrian Balan. Their research was published in the journal ACS Nano.

Read the full story here.

Arts & Sciences News

Julie Nelson Davis Named Paul F. Miller, Jr. and E. Warren Shafer Miller Professor of History of Art

Davis specializes in the arts and material cultures of 18th- and 19th-century Japan, with a focus on prints, paintings, and illustrated books.

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Justin Khoury Named Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Khoury’s research interests lie at the intersection of particle physics and cosmology.

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University of Pennsylvania, Neubauer Family Foundation, and Philadelphia Police Department Partner to Support Police Leadership Education

The first-of-its-kind graduate degree in the U.S. for police leaders launches this fall at the School of Arts & Sciences.

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Professor of Biology Philip Rea Wins Neal Award for Scientific Journalism

Rea won for the award for Best Technical/Scientific Content for his article “Gliflozins for Diabetes: From Bark to Bench to Bedside,” published in American Scientist.

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Marisa C. Kozlowski Named Next Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences

Kozlowski, who joined the Penn faculty in 1997, succeeds Mark Trodden, who transitions to the Dean of Penn Arts & Sciences on June 1.

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One Fourth Year, One Alum Receive 2025 Hertz Fellowship

Eric Tao, C’25, Gr’25 (left), and Suraj Chandran, C’23, were awarded the honor, part of a group of 19 fellows selected this year. Each one receives five years of funding toward a doctoral program.

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