Biochip
A biochip is a biochemical method for parallel measurement of samples in high throughput . A biochip is usually a combination of a microarray and a semiconductor- based sensor . On the carrier material there is a large number of biological or biochemical evidence or tests in a very confined space, usually only the size of a fingernail. Biochip is a collective term for a large number of different test methods and technical processes.
to form
As a carrier material is u. a. Specially coated plastic or coated glass is used, onto which the tests, often only a few micrometers in size, are attached (immobilized) with the help of machines . Especially the glass-based biochips are similar to the appearance of slides of microscopy .
Frequently Biochips are divided according to the substances to be determined in the test: If DNA chips are DNA - and RNA fragments detected in protein chips certain proteins - often with the help of antibodies .
Semiconductor-based biochips are still in the research stage 10 years after the breakthrough of other technologies. Because compared to DNA or protein chips, which have only miniaturized previously proven processes , semiconductor biochips require new processes that must first be researched intensively. The advantage of semiconductor technology is that the electronics for signal amplification and evaluation can be integrated in the chip. Additional work steps with expensive additional equipment , such as fluorescence scanners for optical detection methods , are no longer necessary .
The combination of biochip and microfluidics is called lab-on-a-chip , e.g. B. the patch clamp chip .
history
The term biochip was first found in scientific literature in the early 1980s . B. in Advanced Computers Parallel And Biochip Processors by Norman W. Lord et al. from 1983. In addition to the medical applications described above, thought was also given to manufacturing integrated circuits (e.g. microprocessors ) from biological material in the hope of making smaller structures possible than with the semiconductor technology of the time.
Due to the high number of tests per unit of time, the comparatively small amount of samples and the ease with which it can be automated , the biochip has quickly established itself as an important part of research in pharmacy , medicine , biochemistry , genetics and microbiology .
Before that, gel- based electrophoretic or chromatographic methods, which were much more time-consuming, were used in these research fields for the same task .
Term expansion
Sometimes the term biochip is extended from the detection of biochemical substances to the release and influencing of the same. Such a biochip could perceive the environment via biosensors and then trigger certain reactions in the organism or a technical system according to built-in algorithms . A cyborg would arise when implanted in a person .
Individual evidence
- ^ SS Daube, RH Bar-Ziv: Protein nanomachines assembly modes: cell-free expression and biochip perspectives. In: Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology. Volume 5, Number 6, 2013 Nov-Dec, pp. 613-628, ISSN 1939-0041 . doi : 10.1002 / wnan.1234 . PMID 23894031 .
- ↑ S. Carrara, S. Ghoreishizadeh, J. Olivo, I. Taurino, C. Baj-Rossi, A. Cavallini, MO de Beeck, C. Dehollain, W. Burleson, FG Moussy, A. Guiseppi-Elie, G. De Micheli: Fully integrated biochip platforms for advanced healthcare. In: Sensors. Volume 12, number 8, 2012, pp. 11013-11060, doi : 10.3390 / s120811013 . PMID 23112644 . PMC 3472872 (free full text).
- ↑ Norman W. Lord, Paul A. Girogosian, Robert P. Ouellette, Robert J. Clerman, Paul N. Cheremisinoff: Advanced Computers Parallel And Biochip Processors In: Ann Arbor Science Publishers (Michigan, USA). ISBN 0-250-40626-8 .