Assays and other reactions involving droplets
First Claim
1. A composition comprising a plurality of aqueous droplets in a water-in-oil emulsion, wherein the plurality of aqueous droplets is monodisperse, wherein the plurality of aqueous droplets comprises a plurality of particles, wherein a given droplet of the plurality of aqueous droplets comprises a given particle from the plurality of particles, and wherein the given particle comprises one or more reagents for carrying out a nucleic acid amplification reaction on a nucleic acid molecule.
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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
20 Claims
- 1. A composition comprising a plurality of aqueous droplets in a water-in-oil emulsion, wherein the plurality of aqueous droplets is monodisperse, wherein the plurality of aqueous droplets comprises a plurality of particles, wherein a given droplet of the plurality of aqueous droplets comprises a given particle from the plurality of particles, and wherein the given particle comprises one or more reagents for carrying out a nucleic acid amplification reaction on a nucleic acid molecule.
Specification