A sense of speed

Ion sensitive fi eld effect transistors (ISFETs) can be used for fast chemical sensing in applications such as bionic chemical synapse and rapid DNA sequencing, researchers at the UK-based Imperial College London and Oxford Brookes University have shown. In their Letter in this issue, the team demonstrate how they are the fi rst to use practical iontophoresis to create a 1 millisecond fl ow of hydrogen ions, and detect the local pH change from the rapid stimulation using an ISFET. This new and simple test protocol will allow them to develop the use of ISFETs for much faster chemical sensing applications.