Microfluidic DNA microarrays in PMMA chips: streamlined fabrication via simultaneous DNA immobilization and bonding activation by brief UV exposure

This report presents and describes a simple and scalable method for producing functional DNA microarrays within enclosed polymeric, PMMA, microfluidic devices. Brief (30 s) exposure to UV simultaneously immobilized poly(T)poly(C)-tagged DNA probes to the surface of unmodified PMMA and activated the surface for bonding below the glass transition temperature of the bulk PMMA. Functionality and validation of the enclosed PMMA microarrays was demonstrated as 18 patients were correctly genotyped for all eight mutation sites in the HBB gene interrogated. The fabrication process therefore produced probes with desired hybridization properties and sufficient bonding between PMMA layers to allow construction of microfluidic devices. The streamlined fabrication method is suited to the production of low-cost microfluidic microarray-based diagnostic devices and, as such, is equally applicable to the development of diagnostics for both resource rich and resource limited settings.