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MAGIChips, also known as " Microarrays of Gel-immobilized Compounds on a chip " or "Three-dimensional DNA Microarrays" are devices for molecular hybridization produced by immobilizing oligonucleotides, DNA, enzymes, antibodies, and other compounds on a photopolymerized micromatrix of polyacrylamide gel pads of 100x100x20µm or smaller size. This technology is used for analysis of nucleic acid hybridization, specific binding of DNA, and low-molecular weight compounds with proteins, and protein-protein interactions. The gel pads increase the surface for hybridization to 50 times, compared to typical Microarrays which are printed on flat surface of a glass slide that is usually treated by chemical compounds on which the probes adhere. A probe density of more than 1012 molecules per gel pad can be achieved due to 3D nature of the gel pads.The array is based on a glass surface that has small polyacrylamide gel units affixed to it. Each gel unit functions as an individual reaction cell as it is surrounded by a hydrophobic glass surface that prevents mixing of the solution in the gel units. This lays a foundation for performing ligation, single base extension, PCR amplification of DNA, on-chip MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and other reactions. ==Historical background== MAGIChip technology was developed as a result of collaboration between Dr. David Stahl at University of Washington and Dr Andrei Mirzabekov, formerly of Argonne National laboratory. Andrei Mirzabekov initiated the development of the DNA sequencing by hybridization with oligonucleotides: a novel method in 1988. This method was a foundation for the biotechnology that uses biological microchips to identify DNA structures rapidly, which is of great importance in the fight against a variety of diseases. A joint research project was announced in 1998 among Motorola Inc, Packard Instrument Company and the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. In 1999, the researchers at Argonne National Lab pushed the development of microarray-type biochip technology they co-designed with the Engelhardt Institute to ward off a worldwide outbreak of tuberculosis. Motorola developed manufacturing processes to mass-produce biochips, and Packard developed and manufactured the analytical instruments to process and analyze the biochips. Argonne's contribution, in conjunction with Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology (EIMB), was intellectual property in the form of 19 inventions related to biological microchips. But this collaboration between EIMB in Moscow and Argonne National Laboratory at Illinois and two other US-based commercial partners collapsed as result of argument on contractual arrangement between the parties in 2001. As a result of this dispute, Dr Andrei Mirzabekov resigned as a director of Argonne's Biochip Technology Centre. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MAGIChip」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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