Sandia Corp. of Livermore, Calif., a contractor that manages Sandia National Laboratories, has received US Patent No. 7,611,834, "Methods and devices for protein assays." The patent claims methods and devices for protein assays based on Edman degradation in microfluidic channels. According to the patent, the cleaved amino acid residues may be immobilized in an array format and identified by detectable labels, such as antibodies, which specifically bind to given amino acid residues. In another embodiment, the antibodies are immobilized in an array format and the cleaved amino acids are labeled and identified by being bound by the antibodies in the array.
SRU Biosystems of Woburn, Mass., has received US Patent No. 7,611,836, "Method of making a plastic colorimetric resonant biosensor device with liquid handling." The patent claims a method of making a liquid-handling colorimetric resonant reflection biosensor device by: a) applying an attachment material to a surface of a transfer block; b) contacting a liquid-holding part with the attachment material on the surface of the transfer block; c) removing the liquid-holding part and any attachment material present on the liquid-holding part from the transfer block; d) contacting a biosensor with the liquid-holding part so that the attachment material is between the biosensor and the liquid-holding part; and e) exposing the liquid-holding part and biosensor to ultraviolet light to solidify the attachment material, where the liquid-holding part is immobilized onto the biosensor.
The California Institute of Technology of Pasadena has received US Patent No. 7,611,862, "Method and apparatus for detecting and quantifying bacterial spores on a surface." According to the method, bacterial spores are transferred from a place of origin to a test surface that includes lanthanide ions. Aromatic molecules are then released from the bacterial spores, and a complex of the lanthanide ions and aromatic molecules is formed on the test surface. The complex is subsequently excited to generate a characteristic luminescence on the test surface, after which, the luminescence on the test surface is detected and quantified.
Illumina has received US Patent No. 7,611,869, "Multiplexed methylation detection methods." The patent describes a method of detecting methylation of a cytosine in a target nucleic acid sequence in a sample of nucleic acids by: a) contacting the sample of nucleic acids with bisulfite and forming treated nucleic acids; b) contacting the treated nucleic acids in a single reaction with a population of single-stranded first probes and a population of single-stranded second probes, forming first double-stranded hybridization complexes and second double-stranded hybridization complexes; c) contacting the first and second hybridization complexes with a polymerase or a ligase that modifies the first and second probes of the first and second hybridization complexes and forming single-stranded, first and second modified probes; d) contacting the first and second modified probes with a composition comprising a polymerase, dNTPs, and universal amplification primers; and e) detecting the amplicons so that the detection of the amplicons indicates the presence of a non-methylated cytosine in the target nucleic acid sequence in the sample of nucleic acids.
Illumina has also received US Patent No. 7,612,020, "Composite arrays utilizing micropsheres with a hybridization chamber." The patent claims an "array of arrays" composing a first substrate with a surface that includes assay wells containing samples; and a second substrate composed of projections in which each projection contains an array location composed of discrete sites containing bioactive agents. The patent also claims an "array of arrays" composed of a "plate having wells."
Samsung Electronics has received US Patent No. 7,611,889, "Method for noncovalently immobilizing a biomolecule on a solid substrate and microarray produced according to the method." The patent claims a method for noncovalently immobilizing a biomolecule on a solid substrate by: a) providing a solid substrate with a first functional group attached that has a hydrogen bond-donating ability; and b) reacting a mixture of a compound having a hydrogen ion-accepting ability and a biomolecule functionalized with a second functional group, with the surface of the substrate, the second functional group having a hydrogen bond-donating ability, in order to noncovalently immobilize the biomolecule on the substrate.