Clontech Laboratories of Mountain View, Calif., has received US Patent No. 7,041,445, "Long oligonucleotide arrays." The patent claims long oligonucleotide arrays, as well as methods for their preparation and use in hybridization assays. According to the patent's abstract, the subject arrays are characterized so that at least a portion of the probes of the array are long oligonucleotides having a length from about 50 to 120 nucleotides. Each long oligonucleotide probe on the array is preferably chosen to exhibit substantially the same high target binding efficiency and substantially the same low non-specific binding under conditions in which the array is employed, the patent's abstract states. The patent also claims that the subject arrays can be used in a number of different applications, such as differential gene expression analysis.
Kaiwood Technology of Tainan, Taiwan, has received US Patent No. 7,042,565, "Fluorescent microarray analyzer." The patent claims a fluorescent microarray analyzer that includes a light source for emitting a light beam, a light processing unit for focusing the light beam on the biochip and exciting fluorescent targets on the biochip to produce fluorescence. The analyzer also includes a focusing lens for focusing the fluorescence on a spectrophotometer, a spectrophotometer for detecting signal of the fluorescence, and an output device for selectively outputting or displaying the signal detected by the spectrophotometer, according to the patent's abstract.
The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System of Austin, Tex., has received US Patent No. 7,043,500, "Subtractive clustering for use in analysis of data." The patent claims a data analysis system and methods, including a data mining and data exploration method, that uses subtractive clustering to explore the similarities and differences between two or more multi-dimensional data sets generated using, for example, a flow cytometer, an image analysis system, gene expression, or protein microarrays.
BioArray Solutions of Warren, NJ, has received US Patent No. 7,041,510, "System and method for programmable illumination pattern generation." The patent claims a set of operations that enable interactive control over the creation and placement of planar arrays of several types of particles and biomolecules and the manipulation of array shape and size. The invention claims to enable the sample preparation and handling for diagnostic assays and biochemical analysis in an array format, and the functional integration of these operations. In addition, the patented invention claims a procedure for the creation of material surfaces with desired properties and for the fabrication of surface-mounted optical components. Also, the patent claims a system and method for programmable illumination pattern generation, including a method and apparatus to generate patterns of illumination and project them onto planar surfaces or onto planar interfaces such as the interface formed by an electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor.