Method for analyzing an organic sample
US5210412A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 31, 1991 |
| Grant date | May 11, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 31, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J49/162
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Described is a method and apparatus for analyzing an organic sample. In the preferred embodiment, this method and apparatus allows the determination of the base sequence of a nucleic acid by determining the molecular weights of the components of a biological sample. The method uses either a pre-existing chromophore or the covalent attachment of an ionizable chromophore to a biological sample followed by the vaporization of these molecules by exposure to an intense pulse of electromagnetic radiation in the presence of a matrix which strongly absorbs the radiation. The gaseous molecules are subsequently extracted into an evacuated ionization chamber and then exposed to electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength which specifically excites the chromophore covalently attached to the biological sample. The molecular weights of these ionized species are then determined by mass spectroscopic analysis. This method of molecular weight determination allows for a DNA sequencing method. Four samples of DNA molecules are prepared such that each is covalently linked to an ionizable chromophore and each is fragmented by a means which results in fragments within each of the four samples that termina…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.