Pore-forming toxins detect long strands of DNA

A picture of a lithium ion active aerolysin nanopore for effectively trapping long single stranded DNA

Source: © Yi-Lun Ying

Lithium electrolyte helps aerolysin overcome electrostatic obstacle to detect ssDNA longer than 100 nucleotides

 Scientists in China have used a bacterium-derived nanopore to effectively trap and detect single-stranded DNA over 100 nucleotides long for the first time.