DNA microarrays are used to measure mRNA or miRNA expression [13�C19], to characterize single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) [19�C23], to identify in vivo Transcription Factor (TF) binding sites [24�C26] and as a diagnostic tool to determine chromosome deletion or amplification [27,28]. However, the size of samples and numerous preparative steps limit microarray studies in tissue-specific or cell-specific responses [19,29], or prevent them from delivering results in real-time. In spite of these limitations there are different approaches to study gene expression with very scarce sample sources derived, for example, from laser capture micro dissection approach [30�C32].

These methods are based on RNA amplification [33,34], or signal amplification of detected fluorescence using tools such as dendrimers that, thanks to their chemical structure, allow the accumulation of many fluorescent molecules into the target[35], or enzymes that catalyze serial depositions of fluorophores after target-probe binding (tyramide signal amplification (TSA) method) [36].DNA biosensors have the potential to overcome the limits of DNA microarrays by offering rapid and high sensitive analytical tools for genetic detection [37]. The most important challenges are: i) the integration of microelectronics to microchip-based nucleic acid technologies in a high scalable process; ii) the automation of the detection step and iii) the ability to perform direct signal transduction avoiding the images processing and statistical analysis, necessary in canonical DNA microarray workflow [38].

Potential applications of DNA biosensors include molecular diagnostics [39,40], pharmacogenomics [41,42], drug screening [43�C45], medical diagnosis [46,47], food analysis [48�C50], bioterrorism [51] and pollution [52�C54] or environmental [55] monitoring. Recently, new generations of chips that can perform DNA sequencing have been developed accelerating biological and biomedical research in the genetic field [56]. These new technologies are based on cyclic-array sequencing and include the following commercial Dacomitinib products: the 454 Genome Sequencer (Roche Applied Science), the Solexa (Illumina), the SOLiD platform (Applied Biosystems), the Polonator (Dover/Harvard) and the HeliScope Single Molecule Sequencer (Helicos).

Array-based sequencing enables a much higher degree of parallelism than conventional capillary-based sequencing, but presents problems with long sequencing runs and accurate data fidelity [57].In spite of the potential of biosensors and their wide application in research, only some chips have entered the clinical market. Among these are the glucose sensors that were leading the market until a few years ago: 6% of the Western world population is, in fact, affected by diabetes and would benefit from the availability of rapid, accurate and simple biosensor for glucose.