Gao Zhiqiang is an associate professor at Department of Chemistry ...

Gao Zhiqiang is an associate professor at Department of
Chemistry National University of Singapore. He received his
B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wuhan University, China.
The following years he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Åbo
Akademi University and The Weizmann Institute of Science.
After spending three years in the United States and seven
years at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology,
he joined NUS in April 2011.
Contact Information
Department of Chemistry,
National University of Singapore
3 Science Drive 3, Singapore 117543
Tel: (65)-6516-3887
Email: chmgaoz@nus.edu.sg
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Research in our laboratory currently includes Electrochemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Materials
Science. We are particularly interested in the applications of nanomaterials and nanotechnology in
electronic/electrochemical biosensors and bioassays that are promise as
faster, less expensive, and more practical alternatives than current tests
used for detecting trace amounts of nucleic acids and proteins for disease
diagnosis, molecular biological research and other applications. For
example, current methods for detecting genes usually involve the use of
polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This technique makes multiple copies
of an analyzed gene, in order to detect it more easily. Although effective
and highly sensitive, tests involving PCR tend to be conducted in
centralized laboratories, and therefore imprecise for many settings, such
as point-of-care, where results are needed quickly. Our nanogap sensor
array (see Figure below) appears to be promising to meet this need. The
sensing process uses a pair of micro-sized metal electrodes vertically
stacked and separated by a 5-20 nanometer insulating layer (nanogap), in
combination with specially designed capture probes, to capture traces of
the analyzed gene. The captured gene strands, after selective
metallization, establish electron-conducting paths between the two metal
electrodes across the nanogap, translating the presence of the gene strands
into an electrical signal so that it can be conveniently measured by an
ohmmeter. In laboratory tests, the sensor array can unambiguously detect
the copy number of the analyzed gene quantitatively and may obviate the
need for PCR amplification used in current DNA tests.

PARTENTS
1. US Patent 7,902,362 Threading Intercalators.
2. US Patent 7,655,404 Method and Device for Detection of Nucleic Acids and/or Polypeptides.
3. US Patent 7,576,205 Detectable Threading Intercalator.
4. US Patent 7,563,588 Electrically Non-conductive, Nanoparticulate Membrane.
5. US Patent 7,511,142 Mediator-Modified Biomolecules for Use in Electrochemical Determination of Analyte.
6. US Patent 7,462,720 Determination of Nucleic Acid Using Electrocatalytic Intercalators.
7. US Patent 7,479,557 DNA Threading Intercalators.
8. US Patent 7,030,257 Synthesis of Metallane Derivatives.
9. US Patent 7,052,591 Electrodeposition of Redox Polymer and Co-electrodeposition of Redox Polymer/
Biomolecule Composite Membranes.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS (*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR)
1. S. Roy, J.H. Soh and Z.Q. Gao*, A Microfluidic-Assisted Microarray for Ultrasensitive Detection of
MicroRNA under an Optical Microscope, Lab on a Chip, 11 (2011) 1886–2894.
2. Y.B. Zu, A.L. Ting and Z.Q. Gao*, Visualizing Low-Level Point Mutations: Enzyme-like Selectivity
Offered by Nanoparticle Probes, Small, 7 (2011) 306–310.
3. Y.F. Peng, G.S. Yi and Z.Q. Gao*, A MicroRNA Biosensor Based on Ruthenium Oxide Nanoparticle-
Initiated Polymerization of Aniline, Chemical Communications, 46 (2010) 9131–9133.
4. S. Roy, X.J. Chen, M.H. Li, Y.F. Peng, F. Anariba and Z.Q. Gao*, Mass-Produced Nanogap Sensor
Arrays for Ultrasensitive Detection of DNA, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131 (2009)
12211–12217.
5. Y. Fan, X. Chen, C. Tung, J. Kong and Z.Q. Gao*, Detection of MicroRNAs Using Target-Guided
Formation of Conducting Polymer Nanowires in Nanogaps, Journal of the American Chemical Society,
129 (2007) 5437–5443.
6. Z.Q. Gao*, A. Agarwal, A.D. Trigg, N. Singh, C. Fang, C.H. Tung, Y. Fan, K.D. Buddharaju and J.M.
Kong, Silicon Nanowire Arrays for Ultrasensitive Label-Free Detection of DNA, Analytical Chemistry,
79 (2007) 3291–3297.
7. Z.Q. Gao*, S. Rafea and L. Lim, Detection of Nucleic Acids Using Enzyme-Catalyzed Template-Guided
Deposition of Polyaniline, Advanced Materials, 19 (2007) 602–606.
8. Y. Fan, X.T. Chen, J.M. Kong, C. Tong and Z.Q. Gao*, Direct Detection of DNA By Tagging Phosphates
on Their Backbones with Nanoparticles, Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, 46 (2007) 2051–
2054.
9. Z.Q. Gao* and Z.C. Yang, Ultrasensitive Detection of MicroRNA Using Electrocatalytic nanoparticle
Tags, Analytical Chemistry, 78 (2006) 1470–1477.
10. Z.Q. Gao* and N.C. Tansil, An Ultrasensitive Photoelectrochemical Nucleic Acid Biosensor, Nucleic
Acids Research, 33 (2005) e123.
11. N.C. Tansil, F. Xie and Z.Q. Gao*, Direct Detection of DNA with an Electrocatalytic Threading
Intercalator, Analytical Chemistry, 77 (2005) 126–134.
12. N.C. Tansil, H. Xie F. Xie and Z.Q. Gao*, An ultrasensitive nucleic acid biosensor based on the catalytic
oxidation of guanine by a novel redox threading intercalator, Chemical Communications, (2005) 1064–
1066.
13. H. Xie, C. Zhang and Z.Q. Gao*, Amperometric Detection of DNA at Femtomolar Levels with a Nucleic
Acid/Activator Bilayer on Gold Electrode, Analytical Chemistry, 76 (2004) 1611–1617.
14. H. Xie, Y.H. Yu, P.L. Mao and Z.Q. Gao*, Highly Sensitive Amperometric Detection of Genomic DNA
in Animal Tissues, Nucleic Acids Research, 32 (2004) e15.
15. Z.Q. Gao, G. Binyamin, H. Kim, S.C. Barton, Y. Zhang, A. Heller*, Electrodeposition of Redox Polymers
and Co-Electrodeposition of Enzymes by Coordinative Crosslinking, Angewandte Chemie, International
Edition, 41 (2002) 810–813.