Synthesizing chemical libraries using digital microfluidics
AssigneeFemtoFluidics, Inc.
InventorsDung HOANG, Zachary XIONG
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various systems and methods that synthesize chemical libraries and/or screen chemical compounds are described. The technology utilizes a digital microfluidic (DMF) device to perform various operations, such as the synthesizing and/or screening of chemical libraries. The DMF device can be configured to operate on small droplets (e.g., ˜nanoliter sizes), to operate on many droplets at once (e.g., using a large grid of electrodes), and/or to operate quickly when moving, merging, splitting, mixing, or otherwise manipulating droplets during the synthesis/screening of inputs/compounds.
Claims20
An apparatus for synthesizing a chemical library, the apparatus comprising:
- an array of electrodes configured to move drops containing chemical inputs using electrowetting propulsion;
- multiple microchannels positioned to dispense the drops containing the chemical inputs to an area above the array of electrodes;
- and
- multiple microchannels positioned to receive chemical compounds synthesized using within the area above the array of electrodes.
A method, comprising:
- receiving multiple chemical inputs to a digital microfluidics (DMF) device that includes an array of electrodes;
- synthesizing multiple chemical compounds via electrowetting orchestration of the multiple chemical inputs within the DMF device;
- and
- outputting the synthesized multiple chemical compounds to a chemical library that is physically coupled to the DMF device.
A system for synthesizing a DNA-encoded library (DEL), the system comprising:
- a loading module containing microfluidic channels that dispense chemical inputs contained in a microplate;
- a digital microfluidic (DMF) device that is physically coupled to the loading module and configured to:
- receive the dispensed chemical inputs;
- combine the chemical inputs via electrowetting propulsion to form chemical compounds that are tagged with a short DNA sequence;
- and
- screen the chemical compounds;
- and
- a library module coupled to the DMF device that receives the chemical compounds from the DMF device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.