Miniature bioassay could lead to cheaper drugs

A standard laboratory tool for measuring pharmacological activity of biological substances may soon be replaced by a miniaturised bioassay that will be faster, cheaper and more efficient for scientists to use.

Developed by Singapore's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the DropArray assay is claimed to slash the run-time of certain lab tests by over 60% and reduces consumable costs by nearly 90%, while maintaining the same level of flexibility and convenience as conventional platforms.

"Our technology has the potential to accelerate life science, drug discovery and clinical research," said IBN team leader Dr Namyong Kim.

"Using our technology, companies can benefit from huge savings in time and money spent on research and development and this would have a direct impact on the cost of medication and new drugs for the consumer."

The DropArray contains a unique integration of surface chemistry and microfluidics designed to drastically reduce the amount of material and reagent required and cut the reaction time up to 10-fold, making it faster and cheaper than standard bioassays.

Each DropArray chip comprises a small (1–3") flat rectangular patterned glass slide, with hundreds or thousands of hydrophilic glass wells surrounded by a hydrophobic coating.

The chips can be used for common laboratory processes, such as the heterogeneous bioassay (typically used by scientists in blood sample diagnostic tests). The array is able to miniaturise bioassays from 100 µL to 100 nL, making it possible for researchers to conduct various cell-based tests including cancer stem cell immunoassays more easily than with conventional technology.