Patent ID: 8349167

Claim:
A method for detecting an analyte in a sample comprising providing a sample analyzer comprising an array of at least 10 5 sensors formed in the substrate, the sensors having a pitch distance of not more than 10 microns, the sensors further comprising a field-effect transistor having a gate oxide with a characteristic thickness, a floating gate, and a characteristic threshold voltage; disposing one or more nucleic acid species in proximity to or in contact with at least a portion of the sensors of the array; disposing a sample in proximity to or in contact with at least a portion of the sensors of the array wherein an interaction between the analyte in the sample and the one or more nucleic acid species effectuates a change in at least one electrical property of at least one sensor of the array to produce one or more outputs reflective of the one or more sensors for which interactions were detected, and registering the one or more outputs from the one or more sensors in the array after contact with the sample as an indicator of analyte presence.