Medical Device Link.

Originally Published MDDI August 2002

R&D DIGEST

Efforts by researchers in Chicago could eventually lead to development of faster and less-expensive DNA screening. Such tests could enable medical professionals to identify illnesses more rapidly and begin treatment with medications tailored to a patient's genetic profile. The researchers, representing both Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and NanoInk Inc. (Chicago), have developed a novel method capable of creating arrays of genetic material with millions of times more information than previous systems.

Led by Northwestern professor of chemistry and NanoInk cofounder Chad Mirkin, PhD, the scientists have reportedly built DNA arrays by directly depositing or "drawing" strands of DNA onto surfaces with 50-nm resolution. The research is based on use of Dip Pen Nanolithography (DPN), a process developed and patented by Mirkin and his team.

The researchers believe that the discovery is the first application of a method that rapidly patterns DNA directly at such a minute scale. The ability to create structures with features at the nanometer scale "will enable building new types of 'DNA arrays' that will significantly speed drug discovery, enhance diagnostics, and make the promise of individualized medicines one step closer to reality," says Christopher Anzalone, PhD, NanoInk CEO.

The DPN process is used to build nanoscale structures and patterns by literally drawing molecules onto a surface. By applying molecules, such as DNA, much like a pen applies ink to paper, patterns can be created with multiple molecules. DPN uses the invisibly small tip of an atomic force microscope to accomplish this feat. The microscopic pen tip is coated in molecules, which it then deposits onto a surface (including silicon, gold, and glass) to create the nanometer-scale structures.

Says Mirkin, "With this new tool, we can take a normal chip that's made and sold today for studying a problem in genomics and miniaturize it to one-millionth of its size. In a normal chip with 100,000 different spots of DNA, each spot is 50 µm in diameter. Using DPN, we can prepare 1 million spots in the area occupied by a single spot in a conventional array."

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