A REACTION ROBOT FOR HIGH THROUGHPUT DNA SEQUENCING

THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A HIGHLY AUTOMATED DNA SEQUENCING SYSTEM THAT CAN BE SOLD TO MOLECULAR BIOLOGY RESEARCHERS INTERESTED IN CARRYING OUT LARGE SCALE SEQUENCING PROJECTS. THE COMPLETE SYSTEM WILL INCLUDE ROBOTIC REACTION PREPARATION, HIGH CAPACITY GEL ELECTROPHORESIS SYSTEM, ROBOTIC GEL LOADING AUTOMATIC GEL FILM READER AND SOFTWARE FOR MANAGING THE DATA. THE SPECIFIC AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS LIMITED TO DEVELOPMENT OF ONE COMPONENT, THE ROBOTIC DNA SEQUENCE REACTION ROBOT. THE GOAL IS A ROBOT WITH THE CAPABILITY TO PREPARE 96 DNA SAMPLES IN TWO TO FOUR HOURS YIELDING 384 SAMPLES FOR GEL LOADING WITHOUT THE NEED FOR INTERVENTION BY A HUMAN OPERATOR. THIS PROCESS AS CONVENTIONALLY DONE BY HAND WOULD INVOLVE OVER 1200 INDIVIDUAL STEPS OF PIPETTING AND WOULD HAVE TO BE REPEATED HUNDREDS OF TIMES IN ANY LARGE SEQUENCING PROJECT. BECAUSE OF THE LABOR INVOLVED AS WELL AS THE NEED FOR ACCURACY, THE MANUAL METHOD SIMPLY CANNOT BE CONTEMPLATED ON THE SCALE REQUIRED FOR LARGE SEQUENCING PROJECTS. THE HIGH ACCURACY, REPRODUCABILITY AND CONVENIENCE AFFORDED BY THE ROBOT, COMBINED WITH THE OTHER COMPONENTS OF DNASTAR'S HIGH THROUGHPUT DNA SEQUENCING SYSTEM WILL SUPPORT THE CAPABILITY TO DETERMINE 50,000 OR MORE BASIS OF RAW SEQUENCE PER DAY. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE ROBOT CAN BE MANUFACTURED INEXPENSIVELY ENOUGH TO BE PLACED ON THE MARKET AT LESS THAN $30,000.