Progress in single-biomolecule analysis with solid-state nanopores

Solid-state nanopores and nanopipettes are a new class of stochastic, single-molecule sensors that have now reached a certain degree of maturity. While DNA sequencing has been a major driving force in the field of nanopore sensing since the early 1990s, a feat that has now been achieved with modified biological pores, new potential applications emerge, in particular for solid-state devices. These capitalize on some of the advantages of solid-state pores over their biological counterparts as well as recent technological advances and progress in our fundamental understanding of the translocation process. Here, we will discuss and highlight some of these developments with particular focus on single-molecule analysis of and structures based on double-stranded DNA.