BioScale of Cambridge, Mass., has received US Patent No. 7,632,638, "Methods and apparatus for detecting viruses using an acoustic device." The patent claims methods for detecting viruses. According to the method, particles, each of which is coated with a capture agent having an affinity for the virus, is combined with the sample to form analyte-particle complexes. The system also includes a transport arrangement for transporting the sample to the sensor surface, and a magnetic field-inducing structure constructed and arranged to establish a magnetic field at, and adjacent to, the sensor surface. The resonant sensor produces a signal corresponding to the amount of analyte-particle complexes that are bound to the sensor surface, according to the patent.
Eisai R&D Management of Tokyo has received US Patent No. 7,632,639, "Signal amplification method for detecting mutated gene." The patent claims a signal-amplification method that can increase the detection sensitivity of mutated genes on a DNA chip. The signal-amplification method includes a ligation reaction with a DNA ligase and a self-assembly reaction, which forms a double-stranded self-assembly substance having a regular higher-order structure of oligonucleotides, where the detection sensitivity of the mutated gene on a DNA chip is improved, according to the patent.
Millipore of Billerica, Mass., has received US Patent No. 7,632,661, "Expression elements." The patent describes genetic elements capable of improving the levels of expression of operably-linked transcription units. The genetic elements are derived from the 5' untranslated regions of ribosomal protein genes and may comprise a CpG island. The patent also includes vectors and host cells composed of the genetic elements and methods to obtain high levels of recombinant gene expression.
Sun-Wing Tong of Bakersfield, Calif., has received US Patent No. 7,632,671, "Molecular detection and assay by electrobiochip micro-array." According to the patent, the presence of a nucleic acid target, molecule, or ligand can be detected by hybridization, antigen-antibody reaction, or receptor-ligand binding. This is reported by the strategic positioning of a first probe and a second probe attached to a small particle of electrical conductor, which closes an electrical circuit, reporting the event. Potential applications of this technique include the identification and detection of small amounts of nucleic acids by hybridization, the detection of molecules such as toxins and carcinogens by antigen-antibody reaction, and the detection of other molecules by receptor-ligand interaction. The method can also be adapted to assay the quantity of a given substance using the principle of competitive binding.
Rudolph Technologies of Flanders, NJ, has received US Patent 7,634,129, "Dual-axis scanning system and method." The patent describes an image-acquisition system and method that employs a non-orthogonal optical axis. The optical axis may be designed so that the position of a focal plane of an imaging device in a selected orientation is relative to the object space. Such selective positioning and orientation of the focal plane allows the integration of two coordinate axes and enables dual-axis scanning of the object space, according to the patent.
Affymetrix has received US Patent No. 7,634,363, "Methods for high throughput genotyping." The patent claims methods for genotyping polymorphisms using allele-specific probes. According to the patent, a training set is used to generate a model for each polymorphism to be interrogated. The training set is used to obtain an estimate of the asymmetry between an intensity measurement for a first allele and an intensity measurement for a second allele of the same polymorphism. The intensity measurement obtained for a test sample is adjusted using the estimate of asymmetry prior to using the intensity measurements to make a genotyping call.