• graphene
• biosensor

All the information about inheritance, disease and individuality is contained in
the specific sequence of four different types of molecules called bases, specifically
Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine. Each one of these bases is attached
to a sugar phosphate backbone to form a nucleotide: the simple unit of a DNA
strand, the blueprint of life of any organism.

Since the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, widespread research
has been focused on the development of technologies suitable to sequence the
human genome to discover the genetic risk factors affecting certain individuals
and personalize the treatments associated with complex human diseases over the
genetic map of the single patient. To reach this goal one should be able to sequence
a complete human genome at a very low cost.

In order to realize this ambitious goal, nano-scaled devices have been proposed to replace the conventional biochemistry platforms. Nanopore devices, either
biological or synthetic, have been studied for more than a decade but despite
appreciable progress, it has not been proven that these devices have the ability to
electrically sequence a DNA strand.

New sap has been provided to this field by the discovery of a graphene in 2004.
Its one-atom thickness combined with its remarkable mechanical and electrical
properties make graphene the ideal candidate material that could scan a DNA
strand one nucleotide at a time.

In this thesis we have investigated the response of graphene nanopores at the
translocation of charged particles exploring different detection methods in order to
evaluate this sensors for the proposed target.