Ultrahigh-throughput single-cell genetic analysis and sorting with PACS

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of Torrent Bio, Inc. is to commercialize a technology capable of ultrahigh-throughput screening of single-cells using PCR. The system is in many ways analogous to Fluorescent Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), except that rather than sorting intact cells, it isolates individual cells into individual aqueous picoliter-volume drops suspended in oil and performs PCR reactions on their lysates. Using multiplexed TaqMan PCR assays, the system is able to interrogate eachcell for the expression of specific combinations of genes, mutations or non-coding RNAs. Moreover, similar to FACS, this system can sort the cell lysate into different containers, allowing the lysates of the cells with a unique transcriptional fingerprintto be recovered for additional analysis using microarrays, Next Gen Sequencing, or other methods. The principal advantage of this system is that it combines the high-throughput single-cell screening and sorting capacity of FACS with the sensitivity of