Kit for separating and purifying nucleic acids or various biological materials, and system for automatically performing separation or purification of biological materials using the same

• US 20040157224A1
• Filed: 05/19/2003
• Published: 08/12/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bionex, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Bionex, Inc.
• Inventors: Jang, Gi Young, Chang, Raehyuk, Roh, Hee Joun
• Granted Patent: US 7,329,488 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/6
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0657 Pipetting powder
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/0255 characterized by the form or material of the pin tip
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/0289 Apparatus for withdrawing or distributing predetermined quantities of fluid B01L3/02 takes precedence; sample taking G01N1/00; sample taking within automatic analysers G01N35/00; volume measuring in general G01F
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/40 Concentrating samples
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/0098 involving analyte bound to insoluble magnetic carrier, e.g. using magnetic separation magnetic particles used in immunoassays G01N33/54326; magnetic separation in general B03C
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/028 having reaction cells in the form of microtitration plates

Abstract

The present invention relates to a kit for separating and purifying nucleic acids or a variety of biological materials and a system for automatically performing the operations of separating and purifying a variety of biological materials using the kit.

The kit or the present invention comprises a container with a plurality of chambers formed in a row for containing buffers and solid materials suitable for separating the nucleic acids or biological materials from the biological samples, and a carriage including a flat portion with a hole formed therethrough and a projection having an inside passage of which one end is closed and the other end is open and having a predetermined length such that the projection can be dipped into the buffers. A mounting means is formed on the flat portion of the carriage such that the carriage can be detachably mounted to a transport means for transferring the carriage to the respective chambers. Further, a system for automatically performing the separation and purification using the kit is also provided.

According to the present invention, a predetermined number and a small amount of samples can be selectively processed in accordance with a user'"'"'s needs. Therefore, the samples are quickly processed and prevented from being unnecessarily wasted, and thus, processing efficiency can be improved.

Claims

1. A kit for use in a system for automatically processing nucleic acids or biological materials from biological samples using solid materials, comprising:

a container with a plurality of chambers formed in a row for containing buffers and the solid materials suitable for separating the nucleic acids or biological materials from the biological samples; and

a carriage including it flat portion with a hole formed therethrough and a projection having an inside passage of which one end is closed and the other end is open and having a predetermined length such that the projection can be dipped into the buffers,

wherein a mounting means is formed on the flat portion of the carriage such that the carriage can be detachably mounted to a transport means for transferring the carriage to the respective chambers.

2. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the container and carriage are made of a material selected from a group consisting of polycarbonate, polypropylene polystyrene and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

3. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the solid materials are magnetic beads used for collecting or transferring the nucleic acids or biological materials.

4. The kit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the hole and inside passage of the carriage are a path through which magnetic bars for picking up the magnetic beads are vertically moved.

5. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting means is a magnet.

6. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a bulged portion having a horizontal sectional area greater than that of the projection is further formed at a lowermost of the projection of the carriage.

7. The kit as claimed in claim 6, wherein at least two bulged portions are formed in a longitudinal direction of the carriage.

8. The kit as claimed in claim 6, wherein a bottom surface of the bulged portion of the carriage is shaped to substantially correspond to a shape of a floor surface of the chamber such that vigorous flow in the chamber and a strong crushing and pulverizing function for biological samples between the bottom surface of the bulged portion and the floor surface of the chamber can be ensured when the carriage fully enters the chamber.

9. The kit as claimed in claim 6, wherein protrusions or grooves are formed on a bottom sur(ace of the bulged portion or a flour surface of the chamber.

10. The kit as claimed in claim 8, wherein the biological samples include solid samples.

11. The kit as claimed in claim 10, wherein the solid samples include plants.

12. The kit as claimed in claim 10, wherein the solid samples include insects.

13. The kit as claimed in claim 10, wherein the solid samples include animal tissues.

14. A system for processing nucleic acids or biological materials from biological samples using solid materials, with a desired number of kits according to claim 1, comprising:

a base plate on which the desired number of containers with a series of chambers can be selectively installed in accordance with a test object;

a carriage attachment frame assembly including a frame through which a plurality of holes are formed in accordance with a predetermined arrangement of the containers installed on the base plate. and a plurality of mounting means which are formed on a bottom surface of the frame eorrespondingly to the mounting means of the carriages such that the carriages of the kits can be selectively attached to or detached from the frame in accordance with the predetermined arrangement;

a magnetic bar assembly including a frame with a plurality of magnetic bars attached to a bottom surface of the frame to correspond to the holes formed through the frame of the carriage attachment frame assembly;

a base plate transport unit for horizontally moving the base plate on which the containers have been selectively arranged;

a carriage attachment frame assembly transport unit for vertically moving the carriage attachment frame assembly to mix or stir buffers and biological samples in the chambers;

a magnetic bar transport unit for vertically moving the magnetic bars of the magnetic bar assembly through the holes and inside passages of the carriages; and

a control unit for controlling the transport units in accordance with a predetermined separation and processing procedure.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the solid materials are magnetic beads used for collecting or transforming the nucleic acids or biological materials.

16. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the mounting means is a magnet.

17. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the length or each of the magnetic bars of the magnetic bar assembly is greater than a distance from a top surface of the frame of the carriage attachment frame assembly to a lowermost end of the inside passage, whereby the carriage can he detached from the carriage attachment frame assembly.

18. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the carriage attachment frame transport unit and the magnetic bar assembly transport unit are driven in synchronization with each other.

19. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the transport units include motors and belts or gears