Transport and separation of biomolecular cargo on paramagnetic colloidal particles in a magnetic ratchet.

Paramagnetic particles in a magnetic ratchet potential were transported in discrete steps in an aqueous solution on the surface of a magnetic garnet film. The proposed technique allows the simultaneously controlled, dispersion-free movement of an ensemble of paramagnetic particles across the surface. External magnetic modulations were used to transport the particles in a defined direction, and a current reversal upon changing the size of the particles was used to separate particles having different diameters. Doublets consisting of a larger and a smaller particle functionalized with complimentary oligonucleotides and bound via Watson-Crick base pairing were separated after melting the double stranded DNA.