Progress and trends on the analysis of nucleic acid and its modification.

Nucleic acid is a collective term of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), and it is an essential substance in all known life forms. As numerous of studies have shown that nucleic acids can be used as therapeutic agents and the abnormality of various nucleic acid and its modification level has been proven to be closely bound up with changes in diseases such as cancer, the development of analytical methods for the nucleic acid and its modification has become one of the research hotspots in the field of life sciences. Compared with classical nucleic acid detection methods such as Northern blotting, Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), novel analytical methods based on nanomaterials, nucleic acid amplification strategies and biosensors can better satisfy the needs for sensitivity and simplicity in current clinical diagnosis. Herein, the progress and trends of analysis of nucleic acid and its modification is discussed, aiming to provide guidance for the detection of nucleic acid and its modification in medical basic research and clinical diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.