Methods and apparatus for synthesizing nucleic acids
AssigneeMolecular Assemblies, Inc.
InventorsJ. William Efcavitch, Suhaib Siddiqi
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Abstract
The invention provides improved methods for synthesizing polynucleotides, such as DNA and RNA, using enzymes and specially designed nucleotide analogs. Using the methods of the invention, specific sequences of polynucleotides can be synthesized de novo, base by base, in an aqueous environment, without the use of a nucleic acid template. Because the nucleotide analogs have an unmodified 3′ OH, i.e., as found in “natural” deoxyribose and ribose molecules, the analogs result in natural polynucleotides suitable for incorporation into biological systems.
Claims7
A method for non-template dependent oligonucleotide synthesis, the method comprising:
- exposing a nucleic acid strand to a terminal transferase enzyme capable of incorporating a single nucleotide and remaining bound to the strand and preventing further nucleotide incorporation until exposed to a releasing agent or releasing condition.
A method for non-template dependent oligonucleotide synthesis, the method comprising:
- exposing a covalent blocker-nucleic acid strand complex to an exonuclease to remove un complexed, unmodified nucleic acid strands;
- removing the exonuclease;
- and
- exposing the covalent blocker-nucleic acid strand complex to a releasing agent or a releasing condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.