How to find the limit of sensitivity for DNA-base identification by laser-induced fluorescence

Abstract

To optimize laser-induced fluorescence experiments, we will undertake to find the limit of sensitivity - in numbers of molecules - for experiments that identify certain types of molecules, e.g. DNA-bases labelled with dyes. The experimental method to be considered is single photon counting or time-con-elated-single-photon-counting (TCSPC). The basic idea for the analysis is to look at the experiment from the data-analysis side, to find (a) an optimum statistical procedure for the analysis problem and (b) to find out what signal strength it needs.