Tip‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Single RNA Strands: Towards a Novel Direct‐Sequencing Method

Abstract

Walking the strand: Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) with precision probe positioning has been used to obtain high-quality Raman spectra of the nucleobases in a single RNA strand (see picture: foreground Raman spectrum, background atomic-force microscope tip positioned over the RNA strand). This procedure represents the first step towards direct and label-free single-biomolecule sequencing.