Assays and other reactions involving droplets
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- (a) providing a fluidic droplet in a carrying fluid, wherein said fluidic droplet comprises a first fluid that is substantially immiscible in said carrying fluid, and wherein said carrying fluid is substantially immiscible in water;
(b) hardening said fluidic droplet to form a gel;
(c) removing said carrying fluid;
(d) placing said hardened fluidic droplet in a second fluid; and
(e) subsequent to (d), containing said hardened fluidic droplet in a surrounding droplet.
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Abstract
The present invention generally relates to droplets and/or emulsions, such as multiple emulsions. In some cases, the droplets and/or emulsions may be used in assays, and in certain embodiments, the droplet or emulsion may be hardened to form a gel. In some aspects, a heterogeneous assay can be performed using a gel. For example, a droplet may be hardened to form a gel, where the droplet contains a cell, DNA, or other suitable species. The gel may be exposed to a reactant, and the reactant may interact with the gel and/or with the cell, DNA, etc., in some fashion. For example, the reactant may diffuse through the gel, or the hardened particle may liquefy to form a liquid state, allowing the reactant to interact with the cell. As a specific example, DNA contained within a gel particle may be subjected to PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification, e.g., by using PCR primers able to bind to the gel as it forms. As the DNA is amplified using PCR, some of the DNA will be bound to the gel via the PCR primer. After the PCR reaction, unbound DNA may be removed from the gel, e.g., via diffusion or washing. Thus, a gel particle having bound DNA may be formed in one embodiment of the invention.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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(a) providing a fluidic droplet in a carrying fluid, wherein said fluidic droplet comprises a first fluid that is substantially immiscible in said carrying fluid, and wherein said carrying fluid is substantially immiscible in water; (b) hardening said fluidic droplet to form a gel; (c) removing said carrying fluid; (d) placing said hardened fluidic droplet in a second fluid; and (e) subsequent to (d), containing said hardened fluidic droplet in a surrounding droplet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method, comprising:
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(a) providing a plurality of fluidic droplets of a first fluid in a second fluid, wherein said first fluid comprises water and said second fluid comprises a carrying fluid that is substantially immiscible with water; (b) hardening said plurality of fluidic droplets to form a plurality of hardened droplets; (c) placing said plurality of hardened droplets in a third fluid comprising a nucleic acid; (d) causing said nucleic acid in said third fluid to be contained within a hardened droplet of said plurality of hardened droplets; and (e) containing said hardened droplet within a surrounding droplet. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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28. A method, comprising:
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(a) providing a fluidic droplet in a carrying fluid, wherein said fluidic droplet comprises a first fluid that is substantially immiscible in said carrying fluid, and wherein said carrying fluid is substantially immiscible in water; (b) exposing said fluidic droplet to an environmental change to harden said fluidic droplet to form a gel; (c) removing said carrying fluid; (d) placing said hardened fluidic droplet in a second fluid; and (e) subsequent to (d), containing said hardened fluidic droplet in a surrounding droplet. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification