NetBio has been awarded US Patent No. 8,018,593, "Integrated nucleic acid analysis."
Eugene Tan, Heung Lam, Valery Bogdanov, Gregory Kellogg, John Wright, Ulrich Thomann, and Richard Selden are named as inventors on the patent.
Provides fully integrated microfluidic systems to perform nucleic acid analysis, including sample collection, nucleic acid extraction and purification, amplification, sequencing, and separation and detection. The patent also provides optical detection systems and methods for separating and detecting biological molecules. In particular, the various aspects of the invention enable the simultaneous separation and detection of a plurality of biological molecules, typically fluorescent dye-labeled nucleic acids, within one or a plurality of microfluidic chambers or channels. The nucleic acids can be labeled with at least six dyes, each having a unique peak emission wavelength. The systems and methods are particularly useful for DNA fragment sizing applications such as human identification by genetic fingerprinting; and DNA sequencing applications such as clinical diagnostics.
Sony has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,380, "Real-time PCR system."
Toshiki Moriwaki, Tasuku Yotoriyama, and Yuji Segawa are named as inventors on the patent.
Discloses a real-time PCR system for detecting gene expression levels. The system includes plural reaction regions; a like plural number of heating portions corresponding to the reaction regions and each having heat sources; an optical unit capable of irradiating excitation light of a specific wavelength to all of the plural reaction regions; and a like plural number of fluorescence-detecting portions arranged corresponding to the reaction regions. The heating portions each have a temperature detector in the vicinity of the corresponding heat source. The detectors are capable of converting the temperature into an electrical signal, and feature a controller for controlling a thermal dose from the corresponding heat source based on a correlation between electrical signals and calorific values of the heat source stored beforehand, the patent's abstract states.
Panomics has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,360, "Detection of nucleic acids through amplification of surrogate nucleic acids."
Yuling Luo and Son Bui are named as inventors on the patent.
Describes methods for detecting and optionally quantitating one or more target nucleic acids, in which a surrogate nucleic acid is captured to each target nucleic acid; then amplified and detected. The patent also describes compositions, kits, and systems related to the methods.
Eiken has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,357, "Method of amplifying nucleic acid by using double-stranded nucleic acid as a template."
Tsugunori Notomi and Kentaro Nagamine are named as inventors on the patent.
Provides a nucleic acid synthesis method that involves the step of incubating a double-stranded nucleic acid template under conditions that ensure a complementary strand synthesis reaction using a primer as an origin. The method involves the step of placing a region, to which a primer capable of isothermally amplifying the template nucleic acid will anneal, in a condition that ensures base pairing, using an arbitrary primer. The arbitrary primer initiates the complementary strand synthesis reaction, using the double-stranded nucleic acid as a template and DNA polymerases catalyzing the complementary strand synthesis reaction. This comprises the destabilization of the double-stranded nucleic acid and strand displacement, thereby providing a region that can undergo base pairing.
Abbott Point of Care, a division of Abbott, has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,340, "Nucleic acid separation and amplification."
Gordon Collier, John Wood, Jason MacLeod, William Dicke, Attila Nemeth, and Cary Miller are named as inventors on the patent.
Relates to methods for extracting nucleic acids from cells, amplifying segments of nucleic acid, and detecting nucleic acids in a "convenient and portable manner," the patent's abstract states. "In one embodiment, a sample comprising cells containing nucleic acid is exposed to an aqueous mixture comprising a lytic reagent and one or more beads capable of binding the nucleic acid released from the cells to form a nucleic acid-bead complex. This complex is passed through an immiscible liquid layer to separate the nucleic acid from the aqueous mixture. The beads are magnetic, and the nucleic acid-bead complex is passed through and separated from the immiscible liquid layer with an applied magnetic field. The invention is particularly suited for use in point-of-care medical diagnostic testing, the patent states.
Alere has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,339, "Compositions and kits for recombinase-polymerase amplification."
Olaf Piepenburg, Colin Williams, Niall Armes, and Derek Stemple are named as inventors on the patent.
Describes three related novel methods for recombinase-polymerase amplification of a target DNA. The methods exploit the properties of recombinase and related proteins to invade double-stranded DNA with single-stranded homologous DNA, permitting sequence-specific priming of DNA polymerase reactions. The methods have the advantage of not requiring thermocycling or thermophilic enzymes, the patent's abstract states. Further, the improved processivity of the disclosed methods may allow amplification of DNA up to hundreds of megabases in length.
Molecular Detection has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,337, "Methods, compositions, and kits for detection and analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria."
Yosef Paitan is named as inventor on the patent.
Relates generally to the detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a sample. In particular, the invention provides methods, compositions, and kits for detecting and analyzing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other methicillin-resistant bacteria in a sample.
Applied Biosystems (Life Technologies) has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,332, "Magnetic method for recovering nucleic acid from a mixed cell suspension."
Yingjie Liu is named as inventor on the patent.
Describes a method for selectively recovering nucleic acid from a first cell type in a sample containing cells of at least a first cell type and a second cell type, and a cell suspension medium comprising extracellular impurities. The method entails combining the sample with magnetic particles in a vessel, the particles having the ability to sequester the cells from the cell suspension medium upon application of a magnetic field; exposing the vessel to a magnetic field for a time sufficient to cause sequestration of the cells by the particles; removing the impurity-containing cell suspension medium from the vessel while retaining the cells; selectively lysing cells of the first cell type; and isolating the nucleic acid from the lysed cells. The patent also provides methods for recovering nucleic acid from the second cell type.
Honeywell International has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,327, "Single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping detection via the real-time invader assay microarray platform."
Wendy Wang, Zhenhing Sun, Tao Pan, and Xuanbin Liu are named as inventors on the patent.
Describes a method and apparatus for real-time, simultaneous, quantitative measurement to detect SNPs in a target nucleic acid. The method involves combining a PCR method with the invader assay technique.
Ibis Biosciences (Abbott) has been awarded US Patent No. 8,017,322; US Patent No. 8,017,358; and US Patent No. 8,017,743, all entitled "Method for rapid detection and identification of bioagents."
David Ecker, Richard Griffey, Rangarajan Sampath, Steven Hofstadler, and John McNeil are named as inventors on the patent.
The patents describe a method for detecting and identifying unknown bioagents, including bacteria, viruses, and the like. The method combines nucleic acid amplification and molecular weight determination using primers that hybridize to conserved sequence regions of nucleic acids derived from a bioagent, and that bracket variable sequence regions that uniquely identify the bioagent. The result is a base composition signature that is then matched against a database of base composition signatures, by which the bioagent is identified.
Ibis Biosciences has also been awarded US Patent No. 8,013,142, "Compositions for use in identification of bacteria."
Rangarajan Sampath, Thomas Hall, David Ecker, and Lawrence Blyn are named as inventors on the patent.
Provides compositions, kits, and methods for rapid identification and quantification of bacteria by molecular mass and base composition analysis.