MOTOROLA has become the first major chip maker to commit itself to making
biochips. The company plans to start by building a blood analyser based on a
biochip. And it says that it will eventually produce hand-held machines that can
perform genetic tests or detect disease鈥攑erhaps a small step towards the
disease-sensing 鈥渢ricorders鈥� of Star Trek.
Motorola is one of the leading producers of semiconductor devices. Its
processors power Apple Macintosh computers and it is the world鈥檚 largest
manufacturer of silicon micromachines, such as airbag sensors. Now it aims to
develop biochips in which all functions, whether they are electronic or
biological, are integrated on a single sliver of silicon, says Nicholas
Naclerio, the director of the company鈥檚 new BioChip Systems Unit in Phoenix,
Arizona.
Naclerio says his division will make improved versions of the DNA
鈥渕icroarrays鈥� that can rapidly spot mutations or reveal which genes are active
(鈥淪peed freaks鈥�, 快猫短视频, 14 November 1998, p 46).
Such devices are already available, but they are relatively large, test for only a few thousand
genes and must be read using bulky laser scanners. Motorola plans to merge
detection and readout on a single chip, says Naclerio. Later, he adds, a chip
that purifies DNA from a tissue sample鈥攐ne of the most cumbersome parts of
any genetic test鈥攚ill be developed.
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