Mechanochemical Sensing

In this chapter, we discuss a new sensing strategy that exploits mechanochemical principles of biological molecules, DNA in particular. Mechanochemical coupling reflects the interaction between chemical bonds in a molecule and mechanical stress experienced by the molecule. It is a key subject in the newly emerged field, mechanochemistry, which has led to a number of exotic applications in materials chemistry. However, the potential of the mechanochemical principles in the chemical sensing has not been fully recognized and exploited. Using force-based single-molecule techniques, such as optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, or AFM, the tension in individual DNA templates can be followed in a mechanochemical sensing setup. When the template recognizes an analyte, the accompanied change in the tension of the template can be monitored in real time. This chapter discusses the general principle of the mechanochemical sensing, the pros and cons of this new sensing scheme, as well as future prospects for this strategy.