Wednesday, 28th September 2005 (4821 views)

A miniscule biochip with gold electrodes could soon make a patient's trip to their GP faster and more efficient.

Created by three German researchers in 2004, the chip is not yet commonplace at a doctor's examination, but some analysts believe the chip is a significant building block towards that aim.

The device has a number of gold electrodes that are attached to receptor biomolecules. Gene sequences can be sorted out by a small liquid sample, from blood for example.

Dr Rainer Hintsche, head of the biotechnical microsystems department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology, stated that what had been achieved was the same thing as what happens in nature when molecules meet and bond.

He told Fraunhoffer Magazine: "We know from allergies how accurately nature can identify certain substances. These processes are artificially simulated on the silicon chip."

Currently a group of companies and universities are actively researching and marketing the biochip.

 

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