A Pinhole to the Proteome: The Physics of Analyzing Polymers with Solid-State Nanopores

Synopsis

In the last decade, the emergence of single-molecule DNA and RNA nanopore sequencing has transformed genomics. Nanopores are molecular size holes in thin membranes that can electrically identify single molecules as they thread through. Yet, applications of nanopores extend far beyond the current success of the technology, and nanopores are being explored to decode digital information stored on synthetic molecules, quantify disease biomarkers, fingerprint proteins and more. In this talk, I will discuss recent fundamental advances in the nanopore field bridging the gap between theory and experiments on the dynamics of polymer transport through nanopores and improved models of nanopore conductance, with a focus toward developing applications in proteomics and molecular information storage.