Biosensors and arrays

Biochips, or microarrays, are highly valued tools in life sciences laboratories that provide insight into material interactions in a very small space and with minimal sample requirements. A microarray consists of a large number of capture molecules that – immobilized in the form of tiny spots – bind and make detectable target molecules from a complex sample through molecular recognition.

The decisive factor for the sensitivity and specificity of a biochip is the appropriate chip surface. Multilayer systems of nanoparticles are suitable as surfaces for highly complex RNA/DNA and protein microarrays. They form three-dimensional reaction spaces and provide a manifold enlarged surface for the attachment of capture and target molecules.

For the production of NANOCYTES^®-based biochips, nanoparticle surfaces are coated with organic functions or capture proteins and applied over a large area or in the form of microspots to carrier materials such as glass, silicon or polymer films. The application is carried out via inkjet printing, for example.