Project Brief
Tools For DNA Diagnostics (October 1994)Integrated Microfabricated Devices for DNA TypingScale the company's state-of-the-art Genetic Bit Analysis (GBA) technology down by a factor of 1000, developing the necessary techniques for micromachining and for handling fluids on a microscopic scale to make a simple, compact DNA typing instrument. Sponsor: Orchid BioSciences (formerly Molecular Tool, Inc., Alpha Center),
Molecular Tool, Inc., proposes to miniaturize its existing DNA-analysis technology -- Genetic Bit Analysis (GBA) -- by a factor of 1,000. The challenge entails developing techniques for micromachining parts and components and for handling fluids on a microscopic scale. One goal is to make a simple, compact DNA-typing instrument that yields clinical answers perhaps 100 times faster than current technologies, while consuming only tiny amounts of expensive bioreagents. In contrast to the rather slow, labor-intensive gel electrophoresis commonly used for DNA typing, Molecular Tool's GBA technology is a biochemical assay using standard 96-well laboratory plates. GBA is being applied to parentage verification in thoroughbred racehorses and humans, a procedure that requires genotyping of only a few dozen DNA sies and costs on te order of $100. For practical use as a standard diagnostic procedure, the technology will have to quickly type thousands of sites at a fraction of the cost per test. The Molecular Tool project concentrates on the problems of machining and assembling what are effectively wet biochemistry laboratories onto a small glass chip. Some of the research challenges include developing microfluidic systems to pump and mix reagents and samples, in sequence; techniques to deposit and bind minute samples of nucleic acids to machinable substrates; techniques to build and seal the modules without damaging the nucleic acids; and improved detection methods. After the basic technology is established for a single GBA device, it will be extended to parallel devices, leading up to a 1,000-bit GBA device. Molecular Tool plans to collaborate with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (U.S. Department of Energy), which has pioneered the construction of microanalytic devices in glass.
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