Clinical Diagnostics

Medical diagnosis relies on the detection of biologically-active molecules via devices that often require bioactive surfaces. So biotechnology, the science of elucidating, modifying and producing bioactive molecules, contributes to many clinical diagnostics such as the:

• Preparation of engineered surfaces for the identification of DNA through hybridization to large arrays of diverse DNA molecules produced by spatially-directed synthesis.
• Preparation of analytical devices by antibody immobilization and subsequent chemical detection.
• Purification and identification of cell sub-populations by interactions between their receptors and specially engineered substrates.