Droplet creation techniques
AssigneePresident and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsDavid A. Weitz, Adam R. Abate
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is generally related to systems and methods for producing droplets. The droplets may contain varying species, e.g., for use as a library. In some cases, at least one droplet is used to create a plurality of droplets, using techniques such as flow-focusing techniques. In one set of embodiments, a plurality of droplets, containing varying species, can be divided to form a collection of droplets containing the various species therein. A collection of droplets, according to certain embodiments, may contain various subpopulations of droplets that all contain the same species therein. Such a collection of droplets may be used as a library in some cases, or may be used for other purposes.
Claims16
1-20. (canceled)
A method for forming a plurality of divided droplets, comprising:
- providing a plurality of droplets, each droplet comprising a first fluid surrounded by a second fluid;
- and
- passing at least some of the droplets through a droplet maker such that each of the droplets passing through the microfluidic channel are divided by the droplet maker to form a collection of divided droplets,
- wherein the collection comprises a plurality of groups of divided droplets, where the divided droplets within each group are substantially indistinguishable but each group of divided droplets is distinguishable from the other groups of divided droplets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.