Covalent attachment of DNA oligonucleotides to glass

A method for synthesizing DNA directly on glass is presented. The process is based on pretreatment of glass with boiling hydrochloric acid, thus exposing the hydroxyl groups of the glass. Phosphite-triester chemistry was used to directly attach the first nucleotide to a glass plate via a covalent bond between the hydroxyl group of the glass and the phosphate group of the protected deoxyribonucleotide. Standard molecular biology procedures, such as ligation and restriction digest, were efficiently performed on the glass synthesized oligonucleotide, with the added benefit of extreme ease of handling.