An article such as a biosensor having a nonfouling surface thereon is described. The article comprises: (a) a substrate having a surface portion; (b) a linking layer on the surface portion; (c) a polymer layer comprising brush molecules formed on the linking layer; and (d) optionally but preferably, a first member of a specific binding pair (e.g., a protein, peptide, antibody, nucleic acid, etc.) coupled to the brush molecules. The polymer layer is preferably formed by the process of surface-initiated polymerization (SIP) of monomeric units thereon. Preferably, each of the monomeric units comprises a monomer (for example, a vinyl monomer) core group having at least one protein-resistant head group coupled thereto, to thereby form the brush molecule on the surface portion. Methods of using the articles are also described.

Disclosed herein is a microfluidic device comprising a chip; a flow channel being disposed in the chip; the flow channel being in communication with an entry port and an exit port; the flow channel being operative to permit the flow of a library from the entry port to the exit port; a substrate; the substrate being disposed upon the chip; the substrate being operative to act as an upper wall for the flow channels; and a plurality of receptors; the plurality of receptors being disposed on the substrate; the plurality of receptors being operative to interact with an element from the library.

This disclosure provides methods and devices for the label-free detection of target molecules of interest. The principles of the disclosure are particularly applicable to the detection of biological molecules (e.g., DNA, RNA, and protein) using tandard SiO.sub.2-based microarray technology.

A microsphere-based analytic chemistry system and method for making the same is disclosed in which microspheres or particles carrying bioactive agents may be combined randomly or in ordered fashion and dispersed on a substrate to form an array while maintaining the ability to identify the location of bioactive agents and particles within the array using an optically interrogatable, optical signature encoding scheme. A wide variety of modified substrates may be employed which provide either discrete or non-discrete sites for accommodating the microspheres in either random or patterned distributions. The substrates may be constructed from a variety of materials to form either two-dimensional or three-dimensional configurations. In a preferred embodiment, a modified fiber optic bundle or array is employed as a substrate to produce a high density array. The disclosed system and method have utility for detecting target analytes and screening large libraries of bioactive agents.

A microsphere-based analytic chemistry system and method for making the same is disclosed in which microspheres or particles carrying bioactive agents may be combined randomly or in ordered fashion and dispersed on a substrate to form an array while maintaining the ability to identify the location of bioactive agents and particles within the array using an optically interrogatable, optical signature encoding scheme. A wide variety of modified substrates may be employed which provide either discrete or non-discrete sites for accommodating the microspheres in either random or patterned distributions. The substrates may be constructed from a variety of materials to form either two-dimensional or three-dimensional configurations. In a preferred embodiment, a modified fiber optic bundle or array is employed as a substrate to produce a high density array. The disclosed system and method have utility for detecting target analytes and screening large libraries of bioactive agents.

A method of fabricating a microarray including the steps of: (a) contacting a substrate having wells with a reagent reactive with said substrate to produce a surface modification within said wells and a surface modification surrounding said wells; (b) polishing said substrate to produce a polished surface modification surrounding said wells, wherein said surface modification surrounding said wells is removed and said surface modification within said wells is retained, and (c) depositing a biopolymer onto said substrate, wherein different affinities of said surface modification within said wells and said polished surface facilitate localization of said biopolymer within said wells.

A substrate for use in mass spectrometric analyzes having an array of target locations.

Silanation compositions containing a mixture of two or more silanation reagents, where at least one silanation reagent includes a functional group capable of supporting polymer synthesis and at least one silanation reagent includes no functional group capable of supporting polymer synthesis are useful in modulating the active site density and hydrolytic stability of a surface. These compositions are particularly useful in silanating a surface prior to preparation of a polymer array and provide for increased hybridization results.

This disclosure provides methods and devices for the label-free detection of target molecules of interest. The principles of the disclosure are particularly applicable to the detection of biological molecules (e.g., DNA, RNA, and protein) using standard SiO.sub.2-based microarray technology.

Silanation compositions containing a mixture of two or more silanation reagents, where at least one silanation reagent includes a functional group capable of supporting polymer synthesis and at least one silanation reagent includes no functional group capable of supporting polymer synthesis are useful in modulating the active site density and hydrolytic stability of a surface. These compositions are particularly useful in silanating a surface prior to preparation of a polymer array and provide for increased hybridization results.