Building DNA on a chip: a novel approach to gene synthesis – SynBioBeta

In the 1970s and 1980s, DNA technology made a giant leap forward. Artificial DNA synthesis by the phosphoramidite method and amplification of DNA by PCR became the new norm. The result: a machine (or ten) in every biology lab around the world, each relying on DNA synthesis companies to provide short oligonucleotide primers to amplify the DNA they had and to create the DNA they didn’t.