Functionalization of magnetic gold/iron-oxide composite nanoparticles with oligonucleotides and magnetic separation of specific target

Magnetic composite nanoparticles of gold and iron-oxide synthesized with gamma-rays or ultrasonics were functionalized with thiol-modified oligonucleotides. The amount of oligonucleotides bound to the functionalized nanoparticle probes via hybridization was quantified with fluorescently-labeled target oligonucleotides. Our composite nanoparticles magnetically separated the specific target oligonucleotides without the non-specific adsorption.