Research and applications of biochip technologies

Biochip as a new research field has enjoyed its rapid development in the pa st 10 years. Using microfabrication technology, thousands or hundred thousa nds of biological molecules can be assembled on a centimeter square microch ip. Those chip-based devices can be used to analyze mutations, antigens, ce lls, etc. Compared with the traditional analytical instruments, chip-based micro total analytical systems have many advantages, such as reduced size, lower consumption of both reagents and energy, contamination-free, etc. Bio chip technology is believed to revolutionize the future research in life sc iences, disease diagnosis, drug discovery, forensic sciences and outer spac e exploitation in the coming century.