The feasibility of synthesizing unnatural DNA/RNA has recently been demonstrated, giving rise to new perspectives and challenges in the emerging field of synthetic biology, DNA data storage, and even the search for extraterrestrial life in the universe. In line with this outstanding potential, solid-state nanopores have been extensively explored as promising candidates to pave the way for the next generation of label-free, fast, and low-cost DNA sequencing. In this work, we explore the sensitivity and selectivity of a graphene/h-BN based nanopore architecture towards detection and distinction of synthetic Hachimoji nucleobases. The study is based on a combination of density functional theory and the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. Our findings show that the artificial nucleobases are weakly binding to the device, indicating a short residence time in the nanopore during translocation. Significant changes in the electron transmission properties of the device are noted depending on which artificial nucleobase resides in the nanopore, leading to a sensitivity in distinction of up to 80%. Our results thus indicate that the proposed nanopore device setup can qualitatively discriminate synthetic nucleobases, thereby opening up the feasibility of sequencing even unnatural DNA/RNA.

中文翻译：

---

通过杂化石墨烯/ h-BN纳米孔电感应八王子寺DNA核苷酸。

最近已经证明了合成非天然DNA / RNA的可行性，在合成生物学，DNA数据存储乃至在宇宙中寻找外星生命的新兴领域中提出了新的观点和挑战。鉴于这种巨大的潜力，固态纳米孔已被广泛探索为有前途的候选物，从而为下一代无标记，快速和低成本的DNA测序铺平了道路。在这项工作中，我们探索了石墨烯/ h的灵敏度和选择性-基于BN的纳米孔结构，用于检测和区分合成八王子核碱基。该研究基于密度泛函理论和非平衡格林函数形式主义的结合。我们的发现表明，人工核碱基与设备的结合较弱，表明在移位过程中在纳米孔中的停留时间很短。根据哪个人工核碱基存在于纳米孔中，器件的电子传输特性发生了显着变化，从而导致灵敏度差异高达80％。因此，我们的结果表明，拟议的纳米孔设备设置可以从质量上区分合成的核碱基，从而甚至可以对非天然DNA / RNA进行测序。