Microfluidic devices and methods of use in the formation and control of nanoreactors
First Claim
1. A method for detecting a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product in an aqueous droplet, the method comprising:
- forming a plurality of aqueous droplets in a microfluidic chip;
moving the plurality of aqueous droplets to a separate off-chip reservoir outside of the microfluidic chip, wherein the plurality of aqueous droplets are pooled within the off-chip reservoir and at least one of the aqueous droplets comprises a nucleic acid and reagents for a PCR reaction;
conducting a plurality of PCR reactions simultaneously while the aqueous droplets are in the off-chip reservoir;
moving the plurality of aqueous droplets that have been subject to the plurality of PCR reactions from the off-chip reservoir and into a channel of a second microfluidic device that is operably associated with a detector;
adding an immiscible carrier fluid between the aqueous droplets in the channel of the second microfluidic device, thereby increasing the spacing between the aqueous droplets in the channel of the second microfluidic device; and
detecting a product of the PCR reaction via the detector in one or more of the aqueous droplets in the channel.
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Abstract
The present invention provides novel microfluidic devices and methods that are useful for performing high-throughput screening assays and combinatorial chemistry. Such methods can include labeling a library of compounds by emulsifying aqueous solutions of the compounds and aqueous solutions of unique liquid labels on a microfluidic device, which includes a plurality of electrically addressable, channel bearing fluidic modules integrally arranged on a microfabricated substrate such that a continuous channel is provided for flow of immiscible fluids, whereby each compound is labeled with a unique liquid label, pooling the labeled emulsions, coalescing the labeled emulsions with emulsions containing a specific cell or enzyme, thereby forming a nanoreactor, screening the nanoreactors for a desirable reaction between the contents of the nanoreactor, and decoding the liquid label, thereby identifying a single compound from a library of compounds.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for detecting a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product in an aqueous droplet, the method comprising:
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forming a plurality of aqueous droplets in a microfluidic chip; moving the plurality of aqueous droplets to a separate off-chip reservoir outside of the microfluidic chip, wherein the plurality of aqueous droplets are pooled within the off-chip reservoir and at least one of the aqueous droplets comprises a nucleic acid and reagents for a PCR reaction; conducting a plurality of PCR reactions simultaneously while the aqueous droplets are in the off-chip reservoir; moving the plurality of aqueous droplets that have been subject to the plurality of PCR reactions from the off-chip reservoir and into a channel of a second microfluidic device that is operably associated with a detector; adding an immiscible carrier fluid between the aqueous droplets in the channel of the second microfluidic device, thereby increasing the spacing between the aqueous droplets in the channel of the second microfluidic device; and detecting a product of the PCR reaction via the detector in one or more of the aqueous droplets in the channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification