In Biology, a traditional approach to looking at something really small, is to put the specimen on a slide, and peer at it through a microscope. Even though the invention of the microscope (by Anton van Leeuwenhoek) has revolutionized the Biological sciences, the process of watching specimens under a microscope is very cumbersome. Also, a microscope is not easy to carry everywhere, and thus its use has mostly been limited to a laboratory setup. Now, a team of scientists, funded by Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have developed optical biochips :), that could lead to faster development of new drugs and quicker medical tests.

Red Laser in an optical bio-chip (Courtesy: BBSRC)Biological samples will be place directly on an optical chip (which is no larger than a single cell), equipped with a laser. Special fluorescent chemicals are then used together with these lasers to allow the scientists to analyse the cells or targets within the cells. This technique can be used to analyse cell interior and look for deformities. This also raises the possibility of a micro-laboratory the size of a credit card, which would be able to perform medical diagnostics, improving patient treatment by reducing the number of hospital visits needed for tests.
Perhaps one day, we all will carry credit card sized toolkit in our wallets, which will need only a bit of saliva to analyse our state of health :):).
The research is being carried out at the Wales College of Medicine and involves researchers at Cardiff University, University of Bangor, the Gray Cancer Institute in London and collaboration with the University of Warwick and laboratories in the United States.