In this paper, we describe a culture-based biochip for detecting microorganisms in environmental samples in an improved, timesaving, and cost-efficient manner. The biochips use the paraffinophillic nature of microorganisms to rapidly detect and differentiate them in sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants. A new method of depositing paraffin was developed to fabricate the biochips. The developed technique uses butanol solvent to keep paraffin liquid during spin-coating and thick photoresist for patterning. Using this approach, paraffin layers of 5-70 µm have been successfully fabricated and patterned. These biochips were used to demonstrate rapid, 5-min detection of microorganisms responsible for reactor foaming in wastewater treatment.
- Activated sludge process,
- Biotechnology,
- Cell culture,
- Foams,
- Molecular biology,
- Paraffins,
- Photoresists,
- Sewage analysis,
- Spin coating,
- Biochips,
- Mycobacteria,
- Nocardiafoam,
- Paraffinophilic nature,
- Microorganisms
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/daniel_oerther/57/