Browsing Theses by Subject "DNA"
Now showing items 1-19 of 19
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4150 Cousins: What 7 DNA Ancestry Tests Can Tell You About Your Kin
(University of Waterloo, 2016-01-12)This thesis presents the results of seven commercialized DNA ancestry tests that are all available to the public, for under $400 Canadian dollars each. This research is conducted to explore the use of commercialized DNA ... -
Assessment of remote Patagonian riverine fish using environmental DNA
(University of Waterloo, 2022-04-26)Freshwater systems and fish communities face many anthropogenic threats such as climate change, pollution, and invasive species, causing a rapid loss of biodiversity. To protect freshwater fish basic knowledge of their ... -
Biochemical Characterization of Fluorophore-Binding Nucleic Acids
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-27)Aptamers, single stranded RNA or DNA that bind to target ligands with high affinity and specificity, have a wide range of applications, from therapeutics to biosensing, which makes biochemical characterization of the utmost ... -
DNA Adsorption, Desorption, and Fluorescence Quenching by Graphene Oxide and Related Analytical Application
(University of Waterloo, 2011-09-20)Graphene is a single layer of graphite with many unique mechanical, electrical, and optical properties. In addition, graphene is also known to adsorb wide range of biomolecules including single-stranded DNA. On the other ... -
DNA and Hydrogels for Sensing and Binding Purine Nucleosides
(University of Waterloo, 2021-08-27)Purine nucleosides, such as adenosine and guanosine, are important biomolecules to regulate physiological functions, including maintain heart and brain health, exert inflammatory responses, and take part in metabolisms. ... -
DNA functionalized soft materials: preparation, biophysical properties and analytical applications.
(University of Waterloo, 2013-01-02)Bio-nanotechnology is the use of biomolecules to control both the structure and property of nanomaterials. No biomolecule has been employed more often than DNA as exemplified in the numerous demonstrations of DNA-directed ... -
DNA in Ionic Liquids and Polyelectrolytes
(University of Waterloo, 2013-08-30)DNA has been widely studied in a variety of solvents. The majority of these solvents consist of either aqueous or organic components. The presence of ions or salts in these solvents can further alter DNA properties by ... -
DNA/Metal Oxide Nanoconjugates: Fundamental Understandings and Analytical Applications
(University of Waterloo, 2016-07-29)DNA-functionalized nanomaterials have shown versatile applications in biosensor development, biomedical diagnostics, therapy, and catalysis. DNA is attractive for this purpose for its programmable structure, molecular ... -
An Exploration into Biomimicry and its Application in Digital & Parametric [Architectural] Design
(University of Waterloo, 2006)Biomimicry is an applied science that derives inspiration for solutions to human problems through the study of natural designs, systems and processes. This thesis represents an investigation into biomimicry and includes ... -
In Vitro Selection of New DNAzymes as Metal Biosensors
(University of Waterloo, 2015-06-26)In vitro selection of metal-specific DNAzymes has been shown to be a powerful method to obtain biosensors for metal ion detection. With 14 independent in vitro selection experiments using each of the trivalent lanthanide ... -
Interactions between DNA and starch nanoparticles: adsorption and covalent attachment
(University of Waterloo, 2013-08-07)Biopolymers have been recently received more and more attention as a renewable substitute for traditional petroleum-based materials. Products made from petroleum-based materials typically cannot be recovered, with long ... -
Interfacing fluorescent DNA oligonucleotides with graphene oxide and metal oxides: from adsorption to sensing
(University of Waterloo, 2022-08-18)DNA, apart from being the mode of genomic information storage, has found several uses in catalysis (DNAzymes) and target detection (aptamers). Developing novel biosensors utilizing these properties has therefore been a ... -
Metal-mediated Adsorption of DNA Oligonucleotides onto Polymeric Materials
(University of Waterloo, 2022-12-20)In recent decades, DNA oligonucleotides have been extensively researched due to their applications for catalysis (DNAzymes), biosensing (DNA aptamers/Watson-Crick hybridization), and nanomaterials assembly (DNA origami). ... -
Molecular Imprinting with Functional DNA and Nanozymes: Affinity Improvement and Selective Catalysis
(University of Waterloo, 2019-08-19)Molecular imprinting refers to polymerization of functional monomers in the presence of a template molecule. It is a general method to prepare stable and cost-effective artificial ligands as antibody mimics (also known as ... -
Nanoscale physics of surfactant gene delivery
(University of Waterloo, 2016-01-18)Medicine has met a revolution in the expansion of possibilities for therapy based upon synthetic gene delivery. Imagine the ability to correct problems of a genetic origin with a simple drug -- such science fiction fantasies ... -
Parallel Polyadenine Duplex Formation at Low pH Facilitates DNA Conjugation onto Gold Nanoparticles
(University of Waterloo, 2017-04-20)DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been extensively used in sensing, drug delivery, and materials science. A key step is to attach DNA onto AuNPs forming a stable and functional conjugate. While the traditional ... -
Spherically Confined Polymers: Monte Carlo Simulations with Expanded Ensemble Density-of-States Method
(University of Waterloo, 2018-02-20)In this thesis, the Expanded Ensemble Density-of-States (EXEDOS) method - a combination of the Wang-Landau and Expanded Ensemble Monte Carlo algorithms is employed to investigate spatial conformations of a polymer chain ... -
A Study on Intraorganismal Genetic Heterogeneity in Arabidopsis thaliana in Response to Stress
(University of Waterloo, 2012-09-04)In sexually reproducing individuals, intraorganismal genetic heterogeneity (IGH) or mosaicism is thought to occur infrequently while genetic homogeneity is presumed the norm. In organisms that undergo modular development, ... -
Studying the Structure and Kinetics of Functional Nucleic Acids
(University of Waterloo, 2021-09-30)Aptamers are valuable tools in a variety of biotechnological applications, ranging from biosensing to in vivo cell imaging. Studying these molecules can further our understanding of the structure and kinetics of nucleic ...