Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access originally published online on June 18, 2007
Nucleic Acids Research 2007 35(13):4223-4237; doi:10.1093/nar/gkm389
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Nucleic Acids Research, 2007, Vol. 35, No. 13 4223-4237
© 2007 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Miniaturized PCR chips for nucleic acid amplification and analysis: latest advances and future trends
MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +86 20 85210089; Fax: +86 20 85216052; Email: xingda{at}scnu.edu.cn
Received November 14, 2006. Revised April 28, 2007. Accepted April 29, 2007.
The possibility of performing fast and small-volume nucleic acid amplification and analysis on a single chip has attracted great interest. Devices based on this idea, referred to as micro total analysis, microfluidic analysis, or simply Lab on a chip systems, have witnessed steady advances over the last several years. Here, we summarize recent research on chip substrates, surface treatments, PCR reaction volume and speed, architecture, approaches to eliminating cross-contamination and control and measurement of temperature and liquid flow. We also discuss product-detection methods, integration of functional components, biological samples used in PCR chips, potential applications and other practical issues related to implementation of lab-on-a-chip technologies.