Rapid Naked‐Eye Discrimination of Cytochrome P450 Genetic Polymorphism through Non‐Crosslinking Aggregation of DNA‐Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

Involvement of single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping in healthcare should allow for more effective use of pharmacogenomics. However, user‐friendly assays without the requirement of a special instrument still remain unavailable. This study describes naked‐eye SNP discrimination in exon 5 of the human cytochrome P450 2C19 monooxygenase gene, CYP2C19*1 (the wild‐type allele) and CYP2C19*2 (the variant allele with G681A point mutation). The present assay is composed of allele‐specific single‐base primer extension and salt‐induced aggregation of DNA‐modified gold nanoparticles (DNA–AuNPs). Genetic samples extracted from human hair roots are subjected to this assay. The results are verified by direct sequencing. This study should promise the prospective use of DNA–AuNPs in gene diagnosis.