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Abstract
Buckminsterfullerene (C ) has been studied extensively since its discovery in 1985. As 60 more of its unusual properties are documented, increasing numbers of potential applications for this nanoparticle are being researched by laboratories around the world. Recently, it has been demonstrated in silico that C is capable of binding to and deforming 60 DNA. This raises the possibility that C may interfere with DNA replication, transcription 60 and repair. If this holds true in vivo, nano-C may have harmful effects in biological 60 systems. We have developed three different techniques to assess the possibility of nano-C 60 binding to or denaturing DNA: UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, gel-shift and restriction enzyme digest assays. Results from the restriction enzyme assay demonstrated that nano- C may bind to double-stranded DNA fragments. However, this observation is 60 inconclusive due to experimental constraints. Furthermore, results from the other two experiments suggested that there is no interaction between nano-C and DNA. 60