Use Of Diatomaceous Earth As The Base Substrate For Nucleic Acid Tags
AssigneeSRC, Inc.
InventorsLaura T. Bortolin, Mary F. Swartz, Garrett D. Liddil, Adam J. Lowe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A nucleic acid tag comprising: a nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform attached to a plurality of nucleic acid molecules, each of said nucleic acid molecules comprising identifying information, with a spacer located between the nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform and the identifying information, and where the nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform comprises diatomaceous earth; and an encapsulant surrounding the nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform.
Claims19
A nucleic acid tag comprising:
- an agglomerated plurality of nucleotide-support platforms each attached to a plurality of nucleic acid molecules, each of said nucleic acid molecules comprising identifying information, wherein a spacer is located between said nucleotide-support platform and said identifying information, and further wherein each of said plurality of nucleotide-support platforms comprises a diatom having a diameter of approximately 1 micrometer or greater;
- and
- an encapsulant surrounding the agglomerated plurality of nanoparticle nucleotide-support platforms and said plurality of nucleic acid molecules.
A method for determining whether an item has moved through a geographic location, the method comprising:
- creating a nucleic acid tag comprising a nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform attached to a plurality of nucleic acid molecules, each of said nucleic acid molecules comprising identifying information, wherein a spacer is located between said nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform and said identifying information, and further wherein said nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform comprises diatomaceous earth;
- seeding the geographic location with the nucleic acid tag;
- and
- examining the item for the presence of the nucleic acid tag.
A method for backtracking the travel history of an item, the method comprising:
- creating two or more nucleic acid tags, each tag comprising:
- a nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform attached to a plurality of nucleic acid molecules, each of said nucleic acid molecules comprising identifying information, wherein a spacer is located between said nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform and said identifying information, and further wherein said nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform comprises diatomaceous earth;
- seeding each of two or more geographic locations with said nucleic acid tags, wherein each geographic location is seeded with a unique nucleic acid;
- examining said item for the presence of one or more nucleic acid tags;
- and
- identifying the geographic location associated with each nucleic acid tag detected on said item.
A method for detecting a seeded nucleic acid tag in or on an item of interest, the method comprising:
- obtaining a nucleic acid tag, wherein said nucleic acid tag comprises a nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform attached to a plurality of nucleic acid molecules, each of said nucleic acid molecules comprising identifying information, wherein a spacer is located between said nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform and said identifying information, and further wherein said nanoparticle nucleotide-support platform comprises diatomaceous earth;
- adding the nucleic acid tag to the item of interest;
- sampling a portion of the item of interest for the presence of the nucleic acid tag;
- and
- detecting the presence of the nucleic acid tag in the sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.