Chips in Space

Chief technology officer Don Montgomery explains that CombiMatrix's system synthesizes oligonucleotide probes directly on the chip through electrochemical methods. As a result, no mechanical parts are necessary, and the synthesis and analysis equipment is smaller than a laptop computer. In addition, while other manufacturers of microarrays produce DNA probes in a monolayer, CombiMatrix manufactures DNA chips in a porous, three-dimensional layer that sits on top of the semiconductor chip, thus allowing more capture probes to be concentrated in a given location and producing a stronger assay signal. According to Montgomery, unlike many other in situ arraying chemistries, the materials used to form the porous layer are benign to proteins, making the platform useful for proteomics studies as well. And, in contrast to the photolithographic methods used by other manufacturers of in situ arrays, CombiMatrix's synthesis process uses standard phosphoramidite processes that do not require special protecting groups; thus, the company ...