A GaInP quantum well surface-emitting red distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser consisting of a narrow ridge active channel, and second- and third-order curved DBR gratings is designed and fabricated for compact biomolecular sensing. From the second-order DBR grating, surface emission of 1.4 mW output power at 654 nm wavelength was obtained under CW operation. The surface-emitting DBR laser was combined with a PDMS microchannel and a photodiode. Preliminary sensing of microspheres flowing through the microchannel was demonstrated.