Biotechnology

Micro and nano technology are becoming increasingly important in biotechnology, due to the possibilities of a very low volume of reagent, high precision dosing, a reduction of the reagent period, automation and new analytical methods. Micro-fluidics is at the beginning of development. The first products, for example the electrophoresis chip, are already being sold in larger quantities. Micro-fluidic systems will increasingly be manufactured from polymers. At the beginning of the year 2000 more than 50 companies world-wide were researching for micro-fluidic polymer components, by 2005 this number had increased to over 360. Yole Developpement predicts that in 2007 micro-fluidic polymer components will be produced valuing of 1.5 billion Euros.