About the NanoChip™

Every NanoChip™ cartridge contains an electronic chip, which in turn holds test sites laid out in a geometric grid known as an array. Each test site can be controlled electronically from the system's on-board computer. A permeation layer coated on the chip acts as the protective interface between the electrically active surface and the biological test environment.

The NanoChip™ takes advantage of naturally occurring positive and negative charges associated with most molecules, including DNA and RNA, to facilitate movement to and from — and concentration at — designated test sites. This electronic concentration feature greatly accelerates molecular binding at each site, providing a fast, efficient method for functional genomic testing.

Current applications include single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and short tandem repeat (STR) analyses. SNPs and STRs are genetic markers used in cutting-edge clinical research and clinical diagnostics. Under development at Nanogen are expanded capabilities, which may include gene expression and on-chip amplification. Gene expression involves analyzing which genes turn on and off in a specific biological process. Among other uses, gene expression is used in clinical research to determine different patients' responses to various drugs or drug candidates. On-chip amplification simplifies testing by amplifying genetic material, making variations easier to detect with greater reliability and speed.