Circuits and systems for high-throughput biology

The importance of circuits and systems for high-throughput biological data acquisition in biomedical research are discussed. High-throughput biological data acquisition and processing technologies have shifted the focus of biological research from the the traditional experimental science to that of information science. Powerful computation and communication means can be applied to a very large amount of apparently incoherent data coming from biomedical research. The concept of Laboratory on Chip (LoC) is the natural evolution of System on Chip (SoC) by using an array of heterogeneous technologies. DNA sequencing is the process of finding the exact sequence of bases in a DNA sample and with sequencing it has been possible to determine the gene structure of homo sapiens and other species. In ISFET technology transistor arrays are fabricated and electrical readout circuits can provide a direct measure of the gene expression levels.