An interdisciplinary team with expertise in nanophysics and genetics based in Bielefeld, Germany, has shown how a double-stranded DNA molecule can be orientated across a gap of only a few hundred nanometres in a defined way. The basic idea involves functionalizing DNA with silane at one end and with thiol at the other end. These molecules bind covalently and specifically on SiO₂ and Au surfaces, respectively.

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/lab/45640