Scienion Technology Optimally Suited for Electrical Biochip Production

Scienion's innovative dispensing technology is excellently suited for a variety of applications wherever contact-free precise handling of ultra low volume liquids is needed. Analytik Jena eBiochip GmbH recently started using this technology to coat electrical biochips.

Analytik Jena eBiochip manufactures electrical biochips as universal bioanalytical platforms. The core of these innovative systems is a silicon-based sensor. It consists of two parts: a functional biological surface to specifically bind target molecules such as nucleic acids or proteins and a nano-structured silicon chip as signal transducer. "Ultimate precision is essential when coating our nano-structured gold electrodes with receptor molecules to accurately place these molecules", says Dr. Rainer Hintsche, managing director of Analytik Jena eBiochip GmbH. "We have decided for Scienion's sciFLEXARRAYER S3 for the coating of our electrical biochip arrays because the non-contact dispenser works with the necessary precision, the results are controlled by an integrated video camera and we are receiving highly reproducible results. Reproducibility in the production of miniaturized assays, as for example to detect antibiotics in food, to detect biological warfare agents or pathogens directly and flexibly, is an indispensable quality feature.

"eBiochip uses a very innovative approach of electrically readable biochips" says Dr. Holger Eickhoff, CEO of Scienion AG, "and we are convinced that Scienion provides the ideal technology for producing these chips."

The advantage of Analytik Jena's electrical biochips is that they measure biological detection processes on a silicon chip. As a result, they are not subject to mechanical influences or optical clouding. Alternative read-out technologies tend to work with relatively expensive optic demonstration technologies. Hintsche is sure: "We believe this key technology to be an interesting and competitive alternative to existing systems available on the market in the growth sector of protein analytics and molecular diagnostics. Scienion is the right partner for us and we are confident that Scienion will optimally service us in the further development as well as in the implementation of the production process."

Source: Scienion AG