POLY 74 |
| We report on a DNA chip technology platform that is purely based on polymers, i.e. the substrate itself is made from PMMA and a hydrogel attached to the substrate is acting as a carrier matrix for the DNA probes. The chips are fabricated such that a prepolymer that contains photoreactive units is printed together with the probe molecules. Upon irradiation with UV light, the polymers crosslink and attach to the polymeric substrate and the probes are also photolinked to the matrix. We have found that this technology provides a simple and reliable way to fabricate DNA microarrays. The process tolerates slight day-to-day variations of (external) conditions, such as humidity and temperature. The result are DNA chips of highly reproducible quality that are also very stable and show a long shelf life. Due to the more three-dimensional architecture of the sensing areas these chips show a remarkable sensitivity that reaches out to the attomolar range allowing for reliable detection of even minute amounts of DNA in a sample. |
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Polymers in Biosensors and Biochips
1:30 PM-4:40 PM, Sunday, 10 September 2006 San Francisco Marriott -- Salon 12/13, Oral
Division of Polymer Chemistry |