Expression Diagnostics of South San Francisco, Calif., has received US Patent No. 7,235,358, “Methods and compositions for diagnosing and monitoring transplant rejection.” The patent describes methods of diagnosing or monitoring transplant rejection, particularly cardiac transplant rejection, in a patient by detecting the expression level of one or more genes in a patient. According to the patent’s abstract, the gene expression system used for diagnosis may be a candidate library, a diagnostic agent, a diagnostic oligonucleotide set or a diagnostic probe set. The gene expression system may also be immobilized on an array, such as a chip array, a plate array, a bead array, a pin array, a membrane array, a solid surface array, a liquid array, an oligonucleotide array, a polynucleotide array, a cDNA array, or a microfilter plate.
BioMicro Systems of Salt Lake City has received US Patent No. 7,235,400, “Laminated microarray interface device.” The patent claims a device for forming a low-volume reaction chamber on a substrate such as a microarray slide as well as its method of use. According to the patent, the reaction chamber forming device has an adhesive laminate design that permits it to be manufactured as a disposable device. The patent also describes pneumatically actuatable mixing bladders, which can be inflated or deflated to produce deflection of a wall of the reaction chamber in and out with respect to the reaction chamber to generate movement and mixing of fluid within the reaction chamber in, for example, a hybridization station.