Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Light-up DNA sensors: When DNA sequences are complementary, one fluorescent dye molecule (red rectangle) binds between each matching base pair. The conjugated polymer (blue) wraps around the DNA, absorbs light, and transfers the energy (via fluorescence resonant energy transfer, or FRET) to the dye to amplify the photo luminescent (PL) signal (red arrow). When DNA strands don't match perfectly, fewer dye molecules bind and the magnitude of the PL signal is reduced.