Abstract
It is predicted that an enormous number of analyses will be required in the future in our daily lives, especially in the clinical and biochemical fields. Rapid progress in molecular biology and biochemistry has brought about a deluge of useful and important information. From these achievements, a significant number of genetic mutations have been elucidated, and a number of biomarkers concordant with disease have been established. These are not only useful for revealing the presence and, potentially, staging the disease but also for the a priori prediction of patient predisposition to diseases. By simple calculation, the number of required diagnostic analyses is thought to be the product of the population size and the number of indices. To perform all of these analyses, it is clear that significant investment of funds, time, and resources will be required, which is very difficult to realize with conventional analytical methods. One form of evolving technology, microfluidic devices or microchips can be a powerful solution to this problem.