Rapid, Automated Detection System for PCR Products

There is presently a great deal of interest in defecting specific genetic mutations or variants thatcould provide information about an individual's predisposition to a wide variety of diseases, predict anindividual's sensitivity to specific chemicals or drugs, or be used as prognostic indicators for thetreatment of patients with diseases such as cancer. Despite the importance of monitoring such geneticvariants, present research laboratory techniques are not suitable for routine clinical use, and there is agreat need for new, automated, high-throughput diagnostic approaches. We will address this problemby developing automated instrumentation for the quantitative detection of specific DNA productsgenerated from DNA or RNA targets by polymerase chain reaction techniques. This computer-controlledinstrumentation will be capable of delivering samples and reagents to standard 96-well microplates,maintaining appropriate incubation temperatures for specific hybridization reactions, and performingwashing and detection procedures. The instrument will be able to quickly and efficiently process manyDNA samples, and the final planned technology will be able to simultaneously screen multiple genes froma single DNA sample.