Encoding multiple digital DNA signals in a single analog channel

For many analytic and biomedical applications, the presence of an analyte above or below a critical concentration is more informative for decision making than the actual concentration value. Straightforward analog-to-digital signal conversion does not take full advantage of the precision and dynamic range of modern sensors. Here, we present and experimentally demonstrate an analog-to-multiple-digital signal conversion, reporting digital signals that indicate whether the concentrations of specific DNA sequences exceed respective threshold values. These threshold values can be individually programmed for each target sequence. Experimentally, we showed representation of four DNA targets’ information in a single fluorescence channel.