A useful integration scheme for chemical analysis systems involves microfabricating the components on a single substrate. We have used microfabrication techniques to construct an integrated biochemical analysis device that can analyze nanoliter-sized DNA samples. The device components include: a liquid injection system that relies on hydrophobic/hydrophilic boundaries to control liquid flow and inject nanoliter-sized drops; movement by a variety of techniques, including a mechanism based on induced temperature differences termed thermocapillary pumping; and a chemical detection system using diodes to detect the presence of either radioactively or fluorescently labeled molecules. Each of these individual components can be combined with the others to form increasingly complex integrated systems. The advantage of this approach is the potential for low-cost production of complex chemical sensors. Our current application of this technology is to the genotyping and sequencing of DNA.
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