Development of carbon dots as fluorescent probes for fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) application

Carbon dots, a type of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles, were utilised as fluorescent probes to detect gene in human cells using a technique known as fluorescence in situ hybridisation. Carbon dots were synthesised by heating carboxymethylcellulose in an acid solution. Then, the carbon dots were neutralised, isolated, and subsequently attached to an oligonucleotide probe that binds specifically to a target gene or nucleic acid sequence. These modified carbon dot-oligonucluotide probes were incubated in cultured human skin cells and the detection of gene was visually confirmed via fluorescence microscopy.