Sbir/sttr phase i: Label-Free Biochip for Ultra-High Throughput Screening

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a label-free biochip for applications in genomics, proteomics, life sciences, and pharmaceutical research. Biochips are intended to enable rapid, massively parallel analyses for such applications. However, the typical biochip relies on the use of labels to detect the binding event. Labels are expensive, especially for high-throughput screening (HTS), and can change the chemistry of the ligand. The binding of a low-molecular weight ligand is particularly difficult to detect by any current (or emerging) biochip technology. During the Phase I project, experiments are planned to show(1) that the proposed technology can be used to detect hormones, drugs, metabolites, carbohydrates, and signal transduction molecules in the 100-500 Da size range binding to enzymes, lectins, and DNA; (2) that this technology can differentiate among cross-reactive ligands that bind to a given biomolecule; (3) that the signal is specific to ligand binding and is not affected by artifacts that affect other biochips; (4) that protein denaturation caused by carrier solvents can be detected, and (5) that chip read-out will be exceptionally sensitive and rapid. The commercial applications of this project are likely to be in a number of different areas. They include the markets for medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food and beverage safety, proteomics, drug discovery and development, biomolecule development, and ultra high-throughput screening.