Patent ID: 7118861

Claim:
A semiconductor device composed of one or more insulating or semi-insulating layers, one conducting semiconductor layer, two conducting pads, and a layer of at least one single-stranded DNA probe, wherein: said conducting semiconductor layer is on top of one of said insulating or semi-insulating layers, said two conducting pads are on both sides on top of an upper layer which is either said conducting semiconductor layer or another of said insulating or semi-insulating layers, making electrical contact with said conducting semiconductor layer, and said layer of at least one single-stranded DNA probe is directly adsorbed on the surface of said upper layer, between the two conducting pads, wherein exposure of said single-stranded DNA probe to a sample containing a target DNA or RNA, under hybridization conditions, causes either a current change resulting from the hybridization process when a constant electric potential is applied between the two conducting pads or a change in the electric potential required to keep a constant current.