SCIENCE AT THE EDGE seminar Prof. Erdogan Gulari Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan Engineering Interdisciplinary From Idea to Commercialization: Development of a New Biochip Friday, September 21, 2001 11:00 a.m. in Room 1208 EB Refreshments are served at 10:45. ABSTRACT Biochips containing large numbers of DNA oligonucleotides or cDNA probes have emerged as a powerful high-throughput screening tool for exploring molecular information in a multitude of biological and medical applications. Biochips have been used in determining nucleotide sequences, identifying gene mutations, monitoring gene expression, detecting pathogens, and selecting and measuring activities of ligand molecules (peptides, proteins, antibiotics and other organic and inorganic molecules). It has become clear that the development of biochip technology will have a significant impact on the fields of genetics, molecular biology, medicine, and clinical diagnosis. This talk will focus on our successful development of a light directed highly parallel spatial synthesis chemistry and its integration with semiconductor/MEMS manufacturing technologies to make chips that contains tens of thousands of oligomers with very high sequence fidelity. The instrumentation is such that it can fit onto a table top and enable researchers even in poor countries or in less popular and poorly funded areas to carry out their research in genetic diagnostics, drug discovery, plant genetics and medical diagnostics without having to pay todays $1000+ price per chip. The talk will also touch upon our trials and successes in our efforts to manufacture the chips on a commercial scale.