Micronics (Sony) has been awarded US Patent No. 8,431,389, "Portable high-gain fluorescence detection system."
Frederick Battrell and Troy Daiber are named as inventors.
Describes an instrument for fluorometric assays in liquid samples. The instrument may include multiple optical channels for monitoring a first fluorophore associated with a target analyte and a second fluorophore associated with a control. The instrument finds utility in any number of applications, including microfluidic molecular biological assays based on PCR amplification of target nucleic acids and fluorometric assays in general.
The Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) has been awarded US Patent No. 8,431,387, "Chemical temperature control."
Paul LaBarre, Jay Gerlach, Bernhard Weigl, and Gonzalo Domingo-Villegas are named as inventors.
Exothermic and/or endothermic chemical reactions in combination with phase change materials can produce output temperatures within strict tolerances without requiring expensive and complicated external equipment to generate and maintain an output temperature, the patent's abstract states. Similarly, an exothermic phase change material, which generates heat as a consequence of crystallizing a supercooled liquid, can generate heat at a constant temperature, without requiring expensive and complicated external equipment, as a consequence of the liquid form of the exothermic phase change material being in equilibrium with the solid form of the exothermic phase change material. Numerous biological and chemical processes and/or diagnostic devices require a constant temperature or temperatures for set periods of time. The patent provides an example of a completely non-instrumented diagnostic platform based on nucleic acid amplification, which is particularly suited for use in developing countries that may not have access to expensive and complicated external equipment, the patent's abstract states.
GenVault has been awarded US Patent No. 8,431,384, "Stable protein storage and stable nucleic acid storage in recoverable form."
Michael Hogan and James Davis are named as inventors.
Provides compositions and methods for storage of biomolecules. The biomolecules are stored via absorption to a substrate. Absorbed biomolecules can be eluted or recovered from the substrate at a future time, and optionally be subjected to a subsequent analysis or application. Biomolecules absorbed to a substrate for storage may also optionally be preserved, i.e., the absorbed biomolecule is resistant to or resists degradation.
Applied Biosystems (Life Technologies) has been awarded US Patent No. 8,431,366, "Modified oligonucleotides and applications thereof."
Khairuzzaman Mullah, Zhaochun Ma, and Wanli Bi are named as inventors.
Discloses primers containing certain modified nucleobases in their 3' terminal region that provide reduced formation of primer-dimers during amplification reactions, and various methods of use thereof.
Human Genetic Signatures of Randwick, Australia, has been awarded US Patent No. 8,431,347, "Isothermal strand displacement amplification using primers containing a non-regular base."
Douglas Millar, John Melki, and Geoffrey Grigg are named as inventors.
Discloses a method for isothermal DNA amplification. The method comprises providing an amplification mix to the DNA to be amplified, the amplification mix comprising a first primer at least partially complementary to a region of DNA and containing a non-regular base, a second primer at least partially complementary to a region of DNA and containing a non- regular base, a DNA polymerase, an enzyme capable of strand displacement, and an enzyme that recognizes a non-regular base in double-stranded DNA and causes a nick or excises a base in one DNA strand at or near the non-regular base. The method is used to amplify the DNA substantially without thermal cycling.
IntegenX has been awarded US Patent No. 8,431,340, "Methods for processing and analyzing nucleic acid samples;" and US Patent No. 8,431,390, "Systems of sample processing having a macro-micro interface."
Stevan Jovanovich and Iuliu Blaga are named as inventors.
Both patents describe methods and devices for interfacing microchips to various types of modules. The technology can be used as sample preparation and analysis systems for various applications, such as DNA sequencing and genotyping, proteomics, pathogen detection, diagnostics, and biodefense.
Samsung Electronics has been awarded US Patent No. 8,431,337, "Apparatus for detecting nucleic acids using bead and nanopore."
Kui Hyun Kim, Jun Hong Min, Ah Gi Kim, and In Ho Lee are named as inventors.
Describes a method and apparatus for detecting nucleic acids using beads and nanopores. More specifically, the patent describes a method and apparatus capable of detecting nucleic acid fragments of 70 to 300 base pairs in length by a nanopore detection unit with nanopores of 20 to 120 nm in diameter by attaching a bead to a nucleic acid probe and then detecting the bead, not the nucleic acid itself. The nanopore detection unit can detect the nucleic acid fragments using nanopores of 20 to 120 nm in diameter, even in cases where PCR products are given as the sample, particularly PCR products of 70 to 300 base pairs in length.