Apparatus and method for monitoring molecular species within a medium

An apparatus for controlling a nucleic acid replication process, comprising:

• a multisensor array capable of detecting and discriminating more than one physico-chemical change of a gas or vapor phase of a nucleic acid or a product thereof within a gas or vapor phase medium, and generating an output;
• a computational device capable of processing the output using multivariate analysis to create a data set;
• and
• a feedback control capable of using the data set to control the replication process.

An apparatus for detecting at least one of a bacteria, bacteriophage, or a virus, comprising:

• a multisensor array capable of detecting and discriminating more than one physico-chemical change within a gas or vapor phase of an unlabelled nucleic acid extracted from the bacteria bacteriophage or virus, or unlabelled product of said nucleic acid, from a medium in situ, wherein the multisensor array comprises at least one metal oxide semiconductor;
• means for generating an output;
• a computational device capable of processing the output using multivariate analysis to create a data set;
• and
• an output device capable of displaying, storing, or using the data set.

An apparatus for analyzing at least one of a bacteria, a bacteriophage, or a virus, comprising:

• a multisensor array capable of detecting and discriminating more than one physico-chernical change within a gas or vapor phase of an unlabelled nucleic acid or an unlabelled product thereof created or modified by the bacteria, the bacteriophage, or the virus, from a medium in situ, wherein the multisensor array comprises at least one metal oxide semiconductor,
• and generating an output;
• a computational device capable of processing the output using multivariate analysis to create a data set;
• and
• an output device capable of displaying, storing, or using the data set.