DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTOMATED SEGMENTED DNA SYNTHESIZER

THIS GRANT WILL SEEK THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTOMATED DNA SYNTHESIZER THAT IS ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE FASTER AND MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN CURRENT COMMERCIAL DNA SYNTHESIZERS WHILE UTILIZING STANDARD DNA CHEMISTRY. THE GOAL IS TO AUTOMATE THE SOLVENT DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR THE WAFER DNA SYNTHESIS DEVICE AND TO EVENTUALLY AUTOMATE ALL ASPECTS OF THE DEVICE. ONCE COMPLETE AUTOMATION IS ACHIEVED, THE WAFER DNA SYNTHESIS DEVICE IS EXPECTED TO REDUCE THE REAGENT COST PER BASE ADDITION FROM THE CURRENT TWO TO FIVE DOLLARS (0.2 UMOL SCALE OF SYNTHESIS BY CONVENTIONAL DNA SYNTHESIZERS) TO UNDER FIFTY CENTS. THE PERFORMANCE CAPABILITY OF ONE AUTOMATED MACHINE WITH ITS FASTER PRODUCTION TIME AND LOWER COST OF PRODUCTION SHOULD DRAMATICALLY REDUCE THE COST AND TIME ASSOCIATED WITH SEQUENCING PROJECTS, GENE SYNTHESIS, PROTEIN ENGINEERING, DNA AMPLIFICATION, PROBE OPTIMIZATION AND OTHER GENETIC ENGINEERING RESEARCH. WITH THE NEED FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS TO MILLIONS OF POLYNUCLEOTIDES FOR THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT ALONE, WE BELIEVE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEMI-AUTOMATED WAFER DNA SYNTHESIZER INTO A FULLY AUTOMATED MACHINE WILL HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT IN THE PROGRESS OF DNA RELATED RESEARCH.