Samsung Electronics of Seoul, Korea, has received US Patent No. 8,038,943, "Method of detecting bio-molecules using field effect transistor without fixing probe bio-molecules on the gate sensing surface." The method consists of contacting a sample including a target biomolecule to a sensing surface of a field effect transistor and measuring a change in an electric signal. The field effect transistor includes a substrate, a source region, and a drain region, where the source region and the drain region are formed apart from each other on the substrate, and the source region and the drain region are each doped to have a polarity opposite to that of the substrate. A channel region is also disposed between the source region and the drain region, and an insulating layer including the sensing surface is disposed on the channel region.
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Tokyo has received US Patent No. 8,038,945, "Detection and analysis system for protein array." A method is claimed for detecting a protein by immobilizing a protein on a protein array substrate at a high density with controlled orientation; irradiating the immobilized protein with ultraviolet light, visible light, or infrared light; measuring the light not absorbed by the protein; and further analyzing an interaction between the protein on the substrate and another protein and a compound other than proteins.
Seng Enterprises of Lanarca, Cyprus, has received US Patent No. 8,038,964, "Device for studying individual cells." The device includes a picowell array and a fluid reservoir in fluid communication with the picowells through channels. The device has a moveable lid that in one rest location allows loading of cells in the picowell array. A device for the automated study of cells is also described. It includes a picowell-bearing device having a picowell array with a moveable lid, a lid-moving component, at least one solution-dispensing component, and a control system functionally associated with the lid-moving component as well as with the solution-dispensing component.
Quest Diagnostics of Wilmington, Del., has received US Patent No. 8,039,216, "Methods for detecting nucleic acids using multiple signals." The claimed methods include contacting a substrate-bound nucleic acid in a sample with an oligonucleotide that is specific for the nucleic acid in the sample and that is labeled with at least a first fluorescent dye; contacting the nucleic acid in the sample with a second fluorescent dye that is different from the first fluorescent dye, so that the second fluorescent dye interacts with the nucleic acid; amplifying the nucleic acid; and detecting the nucleic acid by observing fluorescence from the first fluorescent dye after the oligonucleotide hybridizes to the amplified nucleic acid and determining the melting temperature of the amplified nucleic acid by measuring the fluorescence of the second fluorescent dye.
The Industrial Technology Research Institute of Hsinchu, Taiwan, has received US Patent No. 8,039,235, "Oligonucleotide sequences and DNA chip for identifying filamentous microorganisms and the identification method thereof." The patent provides a method for identifying filamentous microorganisms causing sludge bulking by extracting a DNA having a 16S-23S ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer region sequence of a filamentous microorganism that is to be identified; amplifying the 16S-23S ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer region sequence via PCR and a pair of universal primers; letting the 16S-23S ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer region sequence amplified in the second step hybridize with the DNA chip for the identification of the filamentous microorganisms; and observing which probe of the DNA chip the 16S-23S ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer region sequence amplified in the second step is hybridized with to identify the filamentous microorganism that is to be identified.
The California Institute of Technology of Pasadena has received US Patent No. 8,039,269, "Mechanically induced trapping of molecular interactions." A method for selectively modifying a substrate in a chamber or channel of a unit cell of a microfluidic device is claimed. It includes masking a first portion of the substrate by contacting the first portion with a moveable element of the unit cell and leaving other portions of the substrate non-masked; contacting non-masked portions of the substrate with a substrate-modifying agent that modifies the non-masked portions of the substrate leaving the first portion unmodified; depleting or removing the substrate-modifying agent; and then unmasking the first portion of the substrate.
Maven Technologies of Los Angeles has received US Patent No. 8,039,270, "Apparatus and method for performing ligand binding assays on microarrays in multiwell plates." Ellipsometry systems are claimed for imaging binding events between analytes in a sample and an array of ligands in an evanescent field generated by a beam of light reflected from the plane of the ligands in a multiwell plate structure. For example, a film of prism arrays is affixed to the underside of the plate with each prism array located in registry with a well and ligand arrays being immobilized on the bottom surface of the wells. The prism array may be formed in a film and juxtaposed with the bottom surface of the plate or a prism array can be made integral with the plate bottom of a multiwell plate.
BioArray Solutions of Warren, NJ, now part of Immucor, has received US Patent No. 8,039,271, "Assays employing randomly distributed microbeads with attached biomolecules." The patent claims a set of operations enabling 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. It enables sample preparation and handling for diagnostic assays and biochemical analysis in an array format, and the functional integration of these operations. In addition, the patent provides a procedure for the creation of material surfaces with desired properties and for the fabrication of surface-mounted optical components.
Illumina of San Diego has received US Patent No. 8,039,817, "Compensator for multiple surface imaging." A system and method for imaging biological samples on multiple surfaces of a support structure are disclosed. The support structure may be a flow cell through which a reagent fluid is allowed to flow and interact with the biological samples. Excitation radiation from at least one radiation source may be used to excite the biological samples on multiple surfaces. In this manner, fluorescent emission radiation may be generated from the biological samples and subsequently captured and detected by detection optics and at least one detector. The detected fluorescent emission radiation may then be used to generate image data. According to the patent, this imaging of multiple surfaces may be accomplished either sequentially or simultaneously.
The University of Illinois of Urbana has received US Patent No. 8,039,847, "Printable semiconductor structures and related methods of making and assembling." A high-yield pathway is claimed for the fabrication, transfer, and assembly of high-quality printable semiconductor elements with selected physical dimensions, shapes, compositions, and spatial orientations. The methods provide for the transfer and integration of arrays of microsized semiconductor structures onto substrates.