The benefits of many breakthroughs in biotechnology, medicine and environmental science have been restricted by the high cost and the limited availability of tests and materials. Most methods developed in the laboratory are difficult to scale up for mass production manufacturing. There is a need for low cost bioassays for single used application, in health and environmental diagnostics. Disposable materials for routine bioassays for the early detection of cancers and genetic conditions, glucose in blood, and for instant water analysis of heavy metals and microbial activities, are potential applications. Successful commercialization requires bioassays to be low cost, which is usually achieved through high volume manufacturing and by choosing commodity materials. Paper and printing are two technologies meeting these criteria. Paper, a non-woven made of cellulosic fibres, easy to functionalise, biodegradable, sterilise, biocompatible and cheap. Printing is a high speed technology, highly adaptive and able to deliver patterns of materials such as functional fluids with high accuracy. Ink jet, a non-contact printing, is a technique for biomolecular deposition with precise lateral resolution, reduced contamination, better throughput and low cost advantages. The above suggests that paper is the natural material of choice for the production of disposable bioassay devices. However, the biotechnology industry has limited understanding of the stability and reactivity of bioactive papers that need to be shipped and stored.