A new design of knife edged-AFM probe for chromosome precision manipulating

We have studied a new approach to analyzing the genetic information and manipulating the three dimensional structure of human chromosomes by atomic force microscopy (AFM). A novel knife edge-shaped AFM probe device has been designed and fabricated on the basis of micromachining technology for the manipulation of double-stranded DNA and human chromosomes. We attempted to dissect double-stranded DNA and human chromosomes physically using the knife-edged probe under AFM operation. It was possible to dissect the chromosomes into finer and sharper parts compared with the conventional AFM probe.