Microsystem Technology: A Powerful Tool for Biomolecular Studies: 10 (Biomethods) - Tapa dura

Biomolecular studies are the trial of Man to understand how Nature manages information at the molecular level. The understanding of molecular informa­ tion handling in nature is essential for the molecular optimization in chem­ istry, molecular biology, molecular pharmacology and therefore - as an ex­ ample - for the development of specifically acting drugs. The famous recent method of technical information management is digital electronics. Over the past few years, evidence has arisen that computerized and molecular information managements have many similar and overlapping aspects. For example, both technology and nature use digitized information and both use small structures for the efficient handling of information. Furthermore, they optimize their processes in order to gain a maximum of information with a minimum of invested energy. During the last two decades, novel experimental techniques in biomolec­ ular sciences have paved the way for artificial biomolecular optimization. In the same time interval, the progress of micro system technology has been extended from the field of digital electronics and sensing to micro liquid hand­ ling, and the field of chip-supported substance handling began. It appears that the "marriage" of physical micro technology and molecular processing will be consummated soon. The contact of both fields has been realized in for ex­ ample DNA chips. Such connections will also become relevant in additional fields in the near future. Biomolecular investigations are the first to profit from these fast growing scientific and technical connections between micro systems and molecular sciences.

This text is devoted to the rapidly evolving microsystem technology that promises to unravel a wide range of academic and industrial analytical problems, such as trace proofing and single molecule detection, substance selection, miniturized sequencing of biopolymers, handling of single molecules or cells in micro devices and the optimization of molecular functions. All these applications will have a bearing on the future work in the diagnosis of disease, high-throughput screening approaches and combinatorial chemistry. These should be of importance in all life science fields where high efficiency, budgetary restrictions, high sensitivity, the presence of small amounts of highly toxic waste products and storage space constraints are relevant parameters. Taken as a whole this text seeks to reveal how microsystems technology is how changing the face of biology, forensics, gene therapy, molecular medicine, screening, and more.