Patent ID: 8603803

Claim:
A method for synthesizing nucleic acids on a surface comprising, providing a substrate comprised of at least one drive electrode, at least one sensing electrode, and at least one reference electrode, wherein the at least one drive electrode is connected to both drive circuitry configured to drive polymer synthesis and an integrating charge amplifier, wherein the electrodes have a surface, and wherein a surface area of a drive electrode is larger than a surface area of a reference electrode; attaching a cleavable linker to the surface of at least one reference, drive, or sensing electrode, and electrochemically synthesizing a nucleic acid polymer that is attached to the cleavable linker wherein electrochemically synthesizing comprises electrochemically generating an acid by passing current through an electrode, removing a protecting group from an end of a polymer growth site, and coupling a nucleic acid monomer to the polymer growth site wherein the nucleic acid monomer has a protecting group that prevents further polymer growth after the nucleic acid monomer is coupled to the polymer growth site, and wherein generating, removing, and coupling occur a plurality of times.