Nanotech Firm Commercializing Biotechnology Research Tools

Shrink Nanotechnologies, a nanotechnology company in Carlsbad, California, announced today formation of a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Shrink Chips LLC, to commercialize biotechnology research tools. Among its offerings is the ShrinkChip Rapid Prototyping System (RPS) to manufacture microfluidic chips, also known as lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices, as well as other biological and chemical sensors.

LOC devices are used to screen new drugs for toxicity levels, and develop new vaccines, therapeutics and drug therapies for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The company says the use of and analysis from LOC devices, particularly for prototyping, is a high cost for R&D operations in both academia and industry. Shrink expects enterprises using its RPS technology for testing, prototyping and small-scale production will benefit from greater design flexibility and lower costs.

The first line of products will include …

• A desktop-sized rapid prototyping platform for use in government laboratories, academic research facilities and commercial organizations
• A self-contained biotechnology test kit for academic use in high school biology labs through graduate studies.