DC-driven thermoelectric Peltier device for precise DNA amplification

Abstract

Using a DC-driven Peltier device, we fabricated a DNA amplification system [polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system] with the aim of increasing its speed and precision. The Peltier device had a well block sandwiched by Bi2Se0.37Te2.36 as an N-type thermoelectric material and Bi0.59Sb1.30Te3 as a P-type material. The well block was directly controlled by the electric current, leading to a high thermal response. Using the Peltier device with the well block, we performed thermal cycles of a PCR, and we demonstrated that our PCR system produces a smaller amount of nonspecific products for the genome DNA (gDNA) of Arabidopsis thaliana, leading to a more precise DNA amplification system.