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MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
EECS Event |
Tuesday, September 25, 2001
4:00 PM (refreshments 3:30)
Edgerton Hall, Room 34-101
MTL VLSI Seminar
Abstract
A melding of high-tech (electronics, microfluidics, MEMs) and biotech is taking place in an effort to produce systems that can purify, amplify and detect nucleic acids. These so called micro total analysis systems (_TAS) or Sample-to-Answer devices will find use in health-care, agricultural, forensic medicine, military applications, environmental monitoring and animal husbandry. Ideally, these devices will be able to start with almost any sample input, be inexpensive to manufacture, utilize portable instrumentation, and require no user intervention. In practice, developing devices that meet these criteria are difficult due to limitations imposed by the enzymatic amplification procedures, and the DNA detection platform. Motorola Life Sciences has developed an electronic nucleic acid detection platform (eSensor) that simplifies the process for building sample-to-answer devices by offering comparable sensitivity to fluorescence detection methods but with the added advantages of eliminating washing steps (homogenous assay), amendable to real-time monitoring, and compatible with standard electronics manufacturing processes and substrates (printed wiring board, silicon, and ceramic). This presentation will describe the detection technology and progress towards delivering fully integrated devices to the market place.