Systems and methods for genetic and biological analysis
First Claim
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1. A system for nucleic acid sequencing, comprising:
- a chip comprising a flow cell, an array in fluidic communication with said flow cell, a plurality of optical sensors in optical communication with said array, and circuitry operatively coupled to said plurality of optical sensors, wherein said array is configured to retain a plurality of nucleic acid molecules having sequences that are substantially identical to a nucleic acid sequence of a template nucleic acid molecule in a manner such that said plurality of nucleic acid molecules is in optical communication with an optical sensor of said plurality of optical sensors,wherein said circuitry is configured to couple to one or more computer processors external to said chip, which one or more computer processors are configured to (i) bring said plurality of nucleic acid molecules in contact with nucleic acid bases in presence of polymerizing enzymes under conditions sufficient to incorporate at least a subset of said nucleic acid bases into growing strands complementary to said plurality of nucleic acid molecules, (ii) use said optical sensor to detect one or more signals indicative of said nucleic acid bases incorporated into said growing strands, and (iii) use said one or more signals detected in (ii) to identify said at least said subset of said nucleic acid bases, to thereby generate a sequence corresponding to said nucleic acid sequence of said template nucleic acid molecule.
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Abstract
The invention relate to systems and methods for sequencing polynucleotides, as well as detecting reactions and binding events involving other biological molecules. The systems and methods may employ chamber-free devices and nanosensors to detect or characterize such reactions in high-throughput. Because the system in many embodiments is reusable, the system can be subject to more sophisticated and improved engineering, as compared to single use devices.
292 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for nucleic acid sequencing, comprising:
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a chip comprising a flow cell, an array in fluidic communication with said flow cell, a plurality of optical sensors in optical communication with said array, and circuitry operatively coupled to said plurality of optical sensors, wherein said array is configured to retain a plurality of nucleic acid molecules having sequences that are substantially identical to a nucleic acid sequence of a template nucleic acid molecule in a manner such that said plurality of nucleic acid molecules is in optical communication with an optical sensor of said plurality of optical sensors, wherein said circuitry is configured to couple to one or more computer processors external to said chip, which one or more computer processors are configured to (i) bring said plurality of nucleic acid molecules in contact with nucleic acid bases in presence of polymerizing enzymes under conditions sufficient to incorporate at least a subset of said nucleic acid bases into growing strands complementary to said plurality of nucleic acid molecules, (ii) use said optical sensor to detect one or more signals indicative of said nucleic acid bases incorporated into said growing strands, and (iii) use said one or more signals detected in (ii) to identify said at least said subset of said nucleic acid bases, to thereby generate a sequence corresponding to said nucleic acid sequence of said template nucleic acid molecule. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification