AUTOMATED MICROTAPE SYSTEM FOR HTS/GENOMICS APPLICATIONS

APPLICANT?S DESCRIPTION: New drug discovery in Pharmaceutical Research and Genomics have a common need to be able to test 100,000 discreet samples in a days work. Economics and current technology dictates it be done with less than 5microL of reagents per test. MicroTape(TM), a novel sprocket driven carrier tape in the 384 well format of microplates, can fulfill this need. This proposal creates a reel to reel processing system. It provides a means of completing PCR reactions in line. It can add DNA samples, primers and complete up to 35 complete temperature cycles, so that every two minutes 384 finished samples are available for further testing or fluorescent readout in line. In addition to ease of automation, MicroTape(TM) offers lower costs than injection molded microplates. It also provides a compact storage system. 100,000 aliquots of 5microL can be sealed and stored on a reel 4 inches wide by 16 inches in diameter. The sprocket drive nature allows recall to any specific well. It provides unique applications for the storage and recall from large genomic or chemical compound libraries. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: This proposal provides the means of processing 100,000 biological assays a day, for High Throughput Screening, at the 5mciroL level of reagents. It provides a means of continuous PCR testing, at the rate of 100,000 per day. 384 samples are completed every two to four minutes continuously. A compact sample storage system is also provided. 100,000 samples can be stored on a reel 4 inches wide by 16 inches in diameter.