Thirteen fluid channels, nearly as thin as a human hair, guide the reagents from the inlet ports at the edges of the microfluidic chip to the tiny fluid valves in the center of the chip. These fluid valves are opened and closed via external pneumatic pressure. Once a fluid valve opens, the reagents flow to the microcolumn.

The microcolumn houses porous material (the solid phase) to increase the surface area. Linker molecules anchored to that surface let the first nucleotide bond in place, and nucleotides are then added one after another until the desired sequence is complete. Finally, it is cleaved from the solid phase. Each synthesis yields 300 picomoles of the target sequence.