Assays and other reactions involving droplets

US9850526B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• President and Fellows of Harvard College · US

Inventors

• Jeremy Agresti · El Cerrito, US
• Liang-Yin Chu · Chengdu, CN
• David A. Weitz · Bolton, US
• Jin Woong Kim · Daejeon, KR
• Amy Rowat · Cambridge, US
• Morten Sommer · Hellerup, DK
• Gautam Dantas · Brookline, US
• George M. Church · Brookline, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 26, 2015
• Grant date: Dec 26, 2017
• Expiry date: Nov 13, 2035

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N2015/1006
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to droplets and/or emulsions, such as multiple emulsions. In some cases, the droplets and/or emulsions may be used in assays, and in certain embodiments, the droplet or emulsion may be hardened to form a gel. In some aspects, a heterogeneous assay can be performed using a gel. For example, a droplet may be hardened to form a gel, where the droplet contains a cell, DNA, or other suitable species. The gel may be exposed to a reactant, and the reactant may interact with the gel and/or with the cell, DNA, etc., in some fashion. For example, the reactant may diffuse through the gel, or the hardened particle may liquefy to form a liquid state, allowing the reactant to interact with the cell. As a specific example, DNA contained within a gel particle may be subjected to PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification, e.g., by using PCR primers able to bind to the gel as it forms. As the DNA is amplified using PCR, some of the DNA will be bound to the gel via the PCR primer. After the PCR reaction, unbound DNA may be removed from the gel, e.g., via diffusion or washing. Thus, a gel particle having bound DNA may be formed in one embodiment of the inven…