The Microchip Sector Begins Applying Semiconductor Technology to Microbiology.
STMicroelectronics has announced the successful development of a microchip capable of accurately and quickly detecting viruses and pathogenic microorganisms.
“One of the most sought-after applications today is testing for the H5N1 avian influenza virus,” said Stefano Lopriore, Project Director for Lab on Chip at the company, in an interview for the BBC’s Go Digital program.
The testing capability of the microchip is vast; in general, all types of diseases can be tested using DNA or RNA. He indicated that such a test takes about one hour under normal hospital conditions.
In traditional methods, genetic specialists had to spend up to seven days in a modern laboratory to culture viruses, identify strains, and then perform the appropriate tests.
Here, the microchip employs Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology to detect DNA origins through comparison. Companies associated with STMicroelectronics decode the DNA of pathogenic microorganisms and then integrate it into the programming of the microchip. One of these companies is Mobidiag in Finland.
“We isolate DNA strands and place them on the microchip, which has magnification capabilities and performs reactions,” explained Jaakko Pellosniemi, Chairman of the Board.
The microchip is essentially a super-small reactor with a complete electronic system and temperature-control components, supplemented by a series of optical devices.
“The microchip will capture images of DNA strands, and then external software will perform comparative analysis to identify disease markers.”
STMicroelectronics plans to launch this product to the market by the end of 2006.
Stefano Lopriore stated that the retail price would not exceed $100, making it easily accessible for developing countries. According to him, another feature of this microchip allows simultaneous testing of multiple samples.
However, it will be necessary to wait until early next year for clinical trials to be conducted, and it will take additional time before this device becomes widely available in hospitals around the world.
