Paving the way to a biologization of micro-manufacturing

14.11.2022

Sensors based on MEMS technology (micro-electro-mechanical systems) are indispensable today for developments in transport, telecommunications and consumer electronics. A European research consortium with the participation of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna wants to make the very powerful microchips usable for new applications, namley new bio-sensors.

Surely you have, or know someone that has, a smartphone that can tell you how many hours you've slept or how many steps you've taken during the day. But did you know that this information is given by very small sensors, probably produced outside Europe?

Microelectromechanical sensors are today essential components in all walks of life, such as transportation, telecommunication and consumer electronics. They are produced by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology on the surface of silicon wafers. This technology has powerful applications, but it involves specialization that is difficult to attain; MEMS technology requires investments in highly specialized and costly clean room facilities, which has led to the concentration of the sensor manufacturing business to few big players in the semiconductor industry, many operating in Asia.

Also, the expansion of possible applications for the technology in the field of biosensing is still hampered by the difficulties in assembling biospecific elements in miniaturized sensor arrays able to detect and identify different substances.

Marrying silicon with biomolecules

The project "BIOASSEMBLER - Integrating bio-inspired assembly into semiconductor manufacturing technology for biosensors" proposes to change this scenario. It aims to produce a new generation of biosensors manufactured trough a bio-intelligent processes, marrying silicon with biomolecules. If successful, the new technology will enable important new applications for MEMS sensors, particularly as biosensors.

For example, these small diagnostic sensors could measure molecular markers of health and disease in small droplets of biological fluids (e.g., saliva, blood and urine). Furthermore, if such biosensors could measure several analytes in parallel (multiplexed sensing), that would open up vast possibilities, not only in self-monitoring of health, but in different bioanalytical application, such as professional healthcare, food and agriculture, law enforcement (drug testing) or environmental monitoring.

EU Horizon Europe project

BIOASSEMBLER has received funding from the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme. With an overall budget of 3,265,740  Euros, the project brings together a team from six European institutions: Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT OY (VTT), the Finish institution coordinating the consortium, Biomensio OY, also from Finland; the University of Vienna; JOBST Technologies GmbH and Abcalis GmbH from Germany; and Centro de Estudos Sociais - Universidade de Coimbra from Portugal.

To accomplish its goals, the project combines different scientific areas, from chemistry to biotechnology, from the social sciences to the humanities. In addition to the technological innovation, BIOASSEMBLER also innovates in connecting science and society, namely by establishing a social dialogue to assess the acceptance and adoption of the new technology by its potential end users, and by mapping its economic impacts and opportunities to set a base on the principles of sustainable innovation while enabling the transformation of semiconductor manufacturing industry in the EU and the promotion of sustainable value creation.

The project also foresees the production of information and education materials that combine art and science, and the collaboration between scientists and different social actors to better communicate the research and results achieved.

Integrating nucleic acid photolithography with MEMS

"The University of Vienna provides the BIOASSEMBLER project with key know-how on the photolithographic synthesis of DNA directly onto the MEMS arrays. This contribution is essential for the molecular self-assembly process in bio-intelligent manufacturing process and will result in the efficient fabrication of highly multiplexed biosensors", emphasizes Mark Somoza, from the Nucleic Acid Chemistry group of the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry.

The team started working in September, and will have three years to accomplish its main goal: to develop a bio-inspired assembly technology for scalable manufacturing of silicon-based label free multiplex biosensors in semiconductor fabrication platforms and thus lead to a sustainable transformation of traditional manufacturing systems in Europe. In other words, for the next three years BIOASSEMBLER will pave the way to a biologization of micro-manufacturing.

Scientific contact:

Assoc. Prof. Mark Manuel Somoza

Institute for Inorganic Chemistry - Faculty of Chemistry
University of Vienna
Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2 (UZAII), 1090 Vienna
+43-1-4277-52643
mark.somoza@univie.ac.at
https://anorg-chemie.univie.ac.at/research/nucleic-acid-chemistry/

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If your smartphone tells you how many steps you've taken in a day, MEMS sensors are behind it (© Pixabay / StockSnap)

Mark Somoza and his group contribute to the large-scale EU project Bioassember with expertise in the photolithographic synthesis of DNA on MEMS (© Nucleic Acid Group)