Technology advances rapid, cost-effective DNA sequencing on portable devices

Roswell Biotechnologies, a leading provider of sensor chips for molecular electronics, and imec, a globally leading research and innovation center for nanoelectronics and digital technologies, announced today a partnership to develop the first commercially available biosensor chips for molecular electronics. These chips are the core of Roswell Technologies' powerful new platform for DNA sequencing to support precision medicine, molecular diagnostics, rapid infectious disease testing, and DNA data storage.

"The urgent need for a new generation of fast, affordable monitoring and diagnostic tools for consumers has become extremely clear during the current COVID-19 pandemic," said Paul Mola, President and CEO of Roswell. "In this sector, Roswell's molecular electronic platform will change the way infectious diseases are detected, with powerful new capabilities enabling rapid screening of many infectious diseases at once or different virus strains using portable or handheld devices."

The Roswell platform is the first to offer the performance capability of molecular electronic sampling to support a broad range of DNA sequencing and biosensor applications. This includes the full spectrum of tests required for the detection and containment of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, including sequencing, nucleic acid, antigen, and antibody detection. The platform has also been designed to be scalable, providing the possibility for rapid and cost-effective whole-genome sequencing in precision medicine, cancer treatment, and other diseases, as well as reading vast amounts of digital data stored in DNA, which is considered the future of data archiving on a global scale.

Molecular electronic sensor chips integrate individual molecules as electrical sensor components on standard semiconductor chips, making electronic biosensor devices massively scalable. While electronic biosensors have gradually entered DNA sequencing and other testing areas, there have been no major innovations in fundamental sensor technology. The molecular electronic Roswell sensors represent a completely new class of sensors, specifically developed for maximum compatibility with modern CMOS chip technology, and constitute a technological breakthrough that significantly enhances performance and reduces costs. This advancement enables affordable biomedical high-speed testing, including DNA sequencing and other forms of biomarkers essential for modern medical diagnostics, on simple portable or handheld devices.

"Although molecular electronics has long been celebrated as a scientific breakthrough, its commercial usability required that the technology be integrated onto a standard semiconductor chip," said Dr. Barry Merriman, Chief Science Officer of Roswell. "One of the key hurdles for the commercialization of molecular electronics is the need for costly custom solutions for large-scale manufacturing. Imec has overcome these challenges by leveraging state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing technology combined with its extensive experience in biosensor technology to commercialize molecular electronics with standard tools. We are very excited about collaborating with imec on these efforts."

Imec and Roswell have successfully completed important proof-of-concept work and are now focusing on final process development. The first commercially available products are expected to come to market in 2021.

"Building on its leadership in advanced process development technology for the semiconductor industry, imec has pushed the boundaries of what is possible. This next-generation sensor, capable of revolutionizing biosensing, benefits from our broad expertise to overcome manufacturing hurdles," said Dr. Ashesh Ray Chaudhuri, Team Leader for Life Science Technologies at imec.

Dr. Simone Severi, Program Director for Life Science Technologies at imec, added: "Our partnership with Roswell is a great example of how imec leverages its leadership in state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing technology to enable the next generation of life science instruments. We are very much looking forward to collaborating with Roswell on integrating their molecular electronic sensor and developing the fastest path to large-scale, commercial manufacturing of their sensor chips. It is especially motivating to use our capabilities to make a direct impact in key areas of medicine, such as genome sequencing and infectious disease monitoring, and to explore new fields like DNA storage at the exabyte scale."