Divide and conquer: A perspective on biochips for single-cell and rare-molecule analysis by next-generation...

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Genomics
• Medical Science

Background:

• Biochip technologies are integral to next-generation sequencing (NGS), offering scalability and high throughput.
• Current NGS platforms face limitations due to strict nucleic acid concentration requirements, hindering analysis of complex biological systems.
• Analyzing single cells and rare molecules is crucial for understanding biological complexity and disease.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current biochip technologies for NGS applications.
• To explore the potential of future biochip systems in addressing key biological and medical challenges.
• To highlight how biochips facilitate advanced nucleic acid sample preparation.

Main Methods:

• Review of state-of-the-art biochip technologies, categorized into microfluidic- and micromanipulation-based methods.
• Analysis of current applications of biochips in fields like single-cell analysis and liquid biopsy.
• Discussion of future biochip systems and their integration with NGS.

Main Results:

• Biochip platforms have been developed to overcome NGS concentration limitations, enabling convenient nucleic acid preparation.
• Miniaturization of reaction volumes using biochips supports diverse applications, including single-cell and rare-molecule analyses.
• Microfluidic and micromanipulation-based biochips represent current advancements.

Conclusions:

• Biochip technology is crucial for advancing NGS capabilities in science and medicine.
• Future biochip systems will further enhance NGS applications, bringing solutions closer to real-world problems.
• Biochips are poised to revolutionize biological and medical research by enabling more accessible and powerful analyses.