Corning of Corning, NY, has received US Patent No. 7,678,539, "Arrays of biological membranes and methods and use thereof." The patent claims an array that includes biological membrane microspots associated with a surface of a substrate that can be produced, used, and stored in an environment exposed to air under ambient or controlled humidities. According to the patent, the biological membrane microspots compose a membrane-bound protein. Preferably, a G-protein coupled receptor, an ion channel, a receptor serine/threonine kinase, or a receptor tyrosine kinase.
Hologic of Marlboro, Mass., has received US Patent No. 7,678,541, "Methods and compositions for the detection of a nucleic acid using a non-invasive cleavage reaction." The patent claims methods, compositions, and kits for generating a signal indicative of the presence of a target nucleic acid sequence in a sample. The method includes forming a cleavage structure by incubating a sample comprising a target nucleic acid sequence with upstream and downstream oligonucleotides, and cleaving the structure with a nuclease to generate a signal. The presence of a detectable signal is indicative of the presence of a target nucleic acid sequence and a non-invasive cleavage structure, according to the patent.
The California Institute of Technology has received US Patent No. 7,678,547, "Velocity independent analyte characterization." The patent claims a method for determining a characteristic parameter of an analyte. The method includes: a) transporting a fluid medium composing the analyte from a first position to a second position of a fluid flow channel of a fluidic device; b) measuring the characteristic parameter of the analyte within the fluid flow channel at a number of different detection zones separated along a flow path of the analyte in between the first and the second positions; c) determining a velocity dependence of the measurement of the characteristic parameter; and d) determining the characteristic parameter of the analyte.