Dear Matthias:

My name is Dr. Alex Shenderov.  I am President of a biochips startup in
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, US.

You may want to start by searching websites of the companies mentioned
in several review papers in Science, Vol. 282, #5388 (16 October,
1998).  They also have market estimates ($1 Billion to $19 Billion).
The uncertainty is mainly due to the fact that essentially no marketable
devices are currently available.  This, in turn, is due to the fact that
manipulation of the small volumes of liquid, which is required for
operation of any lab-on-chip device, is currently a big problem, and no
good solution to it has yet been offered.

The fact that this is indeed a problem, and one recognized in the field,
is supported by the steady stream of publications on the topic.  For
example, the January 1, 1999 issue of Science (#5398) has three papers
dealing with it.

My company hopes that our solution will change this situation soon (we
are working on a platform technology of manipulating nanoliter
quantities of solutions under direct electronic control, without any
moving parts).

Another EXCELLENT source of information is Marc Madou's book
"Fundamentals of Microfabrication" (1997).  It is truly the bible of the
field.

Good luck.

Alex

P.S.  Please don't hesitate to contact me should you need extra
information.