This invention pertains to the design, fabrication, and uses of an
electronic system which can actively carry out and control multi-step and
multiplex reactions in macroscopic or microscopic formats. In particular,
these reactions include molecular biological reactions, such as nucleic
acid hybridizations, nucleic acid amplification, sample preparation,
antibody/antigen reactions, clinical diagnostics, combinatorial chemistry
and selection, drug screening, oligonucleotide and nucleic acid
synthesis, peptide synthesis, biopolymer synthesis, and catalytic
reactions. A key feature of the present invention is the ability to
control the localized concentration of two or more reaction-dependant
molecules and their reaction environment in order to greatly enhance the
rate and specificity of the molecular biological reaction.