In this issue: Biotechnology Journal 11/2009

Forensic identification on chips Choi and Seo et al., Biotechnol. J. 2009, 4, 1530–1541 Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis can be used for genetic fingerprinting of individuals as it is done for forensic human identification. However, the current state‐of‐the‐art STR genotyping processes and instruments are labor intensive, expensive, time consuming, and lack portability. Micro‐total‐analysis systems or lab‐on‐a‐chip platforms based on microfabrication technologies have the capability to miniaturize and integrate bioanalysis steps in a single format and have already been successfully applied for forensic STR typing. Researchers from Daejeon, Korea, highlight up‐to‐date work on advanced microdevices for high‐throughput STR genotyping, and a portable integrated microsystem for on‐site forensic DNA analysis. Surface plasmon resonance on chips Maynard et al., Biotechnol. J. 2009, 4, 1542–1558 Technologies based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) have allowed rapid, label‐free characterization of protein‐protein and protein‐small molecule interactions. SPR has become the gold standard in industrial and academic settings, in which the interaction between a pair of soluble binding partners is characterized in detail or a library of molecules is screened for binding against a single soluble protein. In spite of these successes, SPR is only beginning to be adapted to the needs of membrane‐bound proteins which are promising targets for drug and biomarker development. This team of authors from Austin, Minneapolis and Rochester (all USA) describe current SPR instrumentation and the potential for SPR nanopore arrays to enable quantitative, high‐throughput screening of G‐protein coupled receptor ligands and applications in cellular biology. Nucleotide immobilization on chips Sethi et al., Biotechnol. J. 2009, 4, 1513–1529 The development of oligonucleotide‐based microarrays (biochips) is of major interest in science and biotechnology industry and has applications in a wide range of research areas including genomics, proteomics, computational biology and pharmaceuticals. Especially microarrays have proven to be a unique method for time and cost efficient analysis of thousands of genes at one. Authors from Delhi and Lucknow, India discuss currently used chemical strategies for immobilization of oligonucleotides and put a special emphasis on post‐synthetic immobilization on glass surfaces. Recent advances on these synthesis pathways are presented in detail.