SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN GENE PROBE FOR HIV DETECTION

We report, for the first time, the use of surface-enhanced Raman (SERS )-active labels for primers used in polymerase chain reaction amplific ation of specific target DNA sequences. This method has the potential for combining the spectral selectivity and high sensitivity of the SER S technique with the inherent molecular specificity offered by DNA seq uence hybridization. The effectiveness of the detection scheme is demo nstrated using the gag gene sequence of the human immunodeficiency vir us. The potential use of multiple probes for simultaneous detection of multiple biological targets is discussed.