Highly selective colorimetric detection of spermine in biosamples on basis of the non-crosslinking aggregation of ssDNA-capped gold nanoparticles

► The aggregation of arbitrary ssDNA-capped AuNPs occurs when spermine was introduced. ► A highly selective colorimetric method for the detection of spermine was developed. ► It is the first successful case as to the efforts towards optical assay for spermine.