Fluidic MEMS based Biosensor for the Detection of Nucleic acids by using Schizophyllan

Recently, a fluid micro electro mechanical system (fluid MEMS), which is composed of a micro pump, mixer, valve, reactor, sensor, an electric circuit, on a chip, is being applied to a biotechnology or a medical analysis. Authors developed a micro sensor mounted on a chip to measure a concentration of one drop of solution 1nL-10 μL) which contained nuclear acids. The form of the micro sensor mounted on the chip was a pair of Cu electrode which was a diameter of 2mm and was a thickness of 10 μm. The sensing function was evaluated by the changes in a concentration of poly(x) (x=adenine, guanine, uracil, and cytosine) solution which was dropped on a micro sensor. To increase a recognization against nucleic acid, various adsorbent was added in a droplet. Especially, high recognition against the nucleic acid was observed with the adsorbent which modified the surface of polystyrene micro beads(l0 μm) using schizophyllan: a kind of polysaccharide. This biosensor recognized a small quantity of total-RNA and m-RNA extracted from the yeast.