Bioanalytical silicon micro-devices for DNA

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on the design, the experimental technology and characterization of a silicon microchip for rapid testing of DNA samples. For the identification it was used a polymerase chain-reaction PCR technique with biomolecules attached. In the last year, there have been a number of recent advances in the field of miniaturized reaction and separation systems, including the construction of fully integrated "lab-on-chip" systems. This paper describes a micro biochip realized on silicon wafers, using standard microfabrication techniques. The biochip is designed to be complex and versatile; it contains a microreactor for the biological material and on the backside of the chip there are heating resistances that would assure the temperature cycles for PCR reactions. The biologic material in the test reactors can be optically monitored because the reactor is covered with transparent glass. The reactor surface was functionalized in order to obtain reactive sites for binding DNA-oligonucleotides for "in vitro" DNA identification.