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A lab operator observes a photolithographic exposure at Affymetrix in Sacramento on March 30, 2004.
Affymetrix is a company that develops GeneChip-based products and related technology for the acquisition, analysis and management of complex genetic data. Commercially available GeneChip arrays contain up to 500,000 unique probes corresponding to tens of thousands of gene expression measurements.
Biochip technology, a combination of semiconductor technology with molecular biology, has become a multi-billion dollar industry over the past few years. A biochip is a collection of miniaturized test sites (microarrays) arranged on a solid substrate that can perform thousands of biological reactions, such as decoding genes, in a few seconds. It uses tiny strands of DNA to latch onto and quickly recognize thousands of genes at a time. Biochips helped to dramatically accelerate the identification of the estimated 80,000 genes in human DNA, an ongoing world-wide research collaboration known as the "Human Genome Project". In addition to genetic applications, the biochip is being used in toxicological, protein, and biochemical research as well as to rapidly detect chemical agents used in biological warfare so that defensive measures can be taken.
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