Silicon chip that writes DNA using electricity

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a chip that synthesizes DNA directly in water using electricity and enzymes. Instead of traditional phosphoramidite chemistry with toxic solvents, the new system uses a natural enzymatic approach.

The chip contains 64 synthesis sites. At each site, microelectrodes locally adjust the pH to trigger nucleotide addition. As a result, 64 different DNA sequences of up to 39 nucleotides in length are built simultaneously on a single chip.

This is a significant step forward. Previously, enzymatic methods could synthesize only about a dozen sequences at a time. The new technology opens the door to more environmentally friendly and scalable DNA manufacturing.

Sources:

1. Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "Harvard scientists turn a silicon chip into a DNA writing machine." ScienceDaily (July 8, 2026).
2. Jung W.-B. et al. "Parallel enzymatic DNA synthesis using a semiconductor chip." Nature Electronics (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-026-01662-9.