Last Updated on June 17, 2026 by Staff
For a time silicon chips have been the heart of modern computing. They power things like smartphones and supercomputers. Now researchers are finding ways to use these chips. A team led by Harvard has made a silicon chip that can make DNA right on its surface using water.
This chip can make 64 DNA sequences at the same time. The usual way of making DNA uses chemicals and special equipment. This new way uses water and special helpers called enzymes. It is safer and better for the environment. This new way of making DNA can change a lot of fields. It can help with making living things, medical tests and even storing data.
How the Chip Works
Making DNA is like building with blocks. You add one block at a time. Each block is a part of DNA. When you add a block it gets a cover to prevent it from growing in the wrong way. This cover has to be removed before you can add the block. The Harvard chip uses electricity to remove the cover. It has rings that send a tiny electric current. This current makes the area around the DNA more acidic. The acidic area helps remove the cover. The next block can be added.
The chip also has a way to keep the area from spreading. This helps each DNA sequence grow correctly.
A New Record
The way of making DNA could only make a few sequences at a time. The new silicon chip made 64 sequences at the time. Each sequence was up to 39 blocks long. This is a record for making DNA. The researchers did this by controlling which parts of the chip got the electric current. They repeated the process times to build complex DNA sequences.
This shows that technology from the electronics world can be used to solve problems in biology and medicine.
Beyond Biology
This technology can be used for more than research. It can help with tests, vaccine development and cancer research. The researchers also tried something. They used the DNA sequences to store a text message. DNA is a way to store information because it can hold a lot of data in a small space. It can also last for thousands of years.
The Future
This breakthrough is big. There is still work to do. When the researchers tried to make DNA sequences on the chip it did not work as well. They found out that the problem was, with the chemicals they were using. The researchers want to make chemicals that work with the chip. If they can do this they might be able to make hundreds or thousands of DNA sequences at the time. This could change the way we do biology, personalized medicine and data storage.
This new technology combines electronics and biology. It opens up ways to work with DNA.