Affymetrix has received US Patent No. 8,501,122, "Manufacturing and processing polymer arrays." The patent provides methods for making and using plates that host sensors, such as high-density oligonucleotide microarrays. The methods include selecting a substrate containing sensors, aligning the substrate to the plate, and attaching it to the plate. Moduled sensor plates, capable of hosting strips of microarrays, are also provided. The plates can be inserted into processing plates, including hybridization, washing, staining, and detection plates, according to the patent.
ANP Technologies of Newark, Del., has received US Patent No. 8,501,399, "Asymmetrically branched polymer conjugates and microarray assays." The patent provides a means for detecting a target molecule. It is accomplished by exposing a sample containing the target molecule to a conjugate that consists of a modified randomly branched polymer without a core, and a bioactive reagent. The agent then binds to the target and is detected.
Shaan Xi LifeGen of Shaanxi, China, has received US Patent No. 8,501,459, "Test probes, common oligonucleotide chips, nucleic acid detection method, and their uses." The patent provides a high-throughput, chip-based detection for a base or mutation site of interest in a nucleic acid sample. It relies on linear test probe pairs P1 and P2, which comprise either of the flanking complementary sequences which are adjacent to the interesting base or the mutation site in the nucleic acid sample. Researchers can apply the method to resequence target nucleic acid sequences, and to detect the mutation, insertion, or deletion sites of a known nucleic acid sequence, as well as to genotype the pathogenic microorganism.
Biometrix Technology of Chuncheon, South Korea, has received US Patent No. 8,501,996, "Iminecalixarene derivatives and aminocalixarene derivatives, method of preparation thereof, and self-assembled monolayer prepared by the method, fixing method of oligo-DNA by using the self-assembled monolayer, and oligo-DNA chip prepared by the method." The patent provides a method for preparing an iminecalixarene and aminocalixarene compounds capable of fixing oligo-DNA molecules having consecutive guanine bases on the surface of a solid substrate by molecular recognition in a monolayer on a glass substrate or gold substrate. A method for preparing an oligo-DNA monolayer, such as an oligo-DNA chip, using the self-assembled monolayer is also claimed.