Characterization of individual polymer molecules based on monomer-interface interactions
AssigneesPresident and Fellows of Harvard College, The Regents of the University of California
InventorsGeorge Church, David W. Deamer, Daniel Branton, Richard Baldarelli, John Kasianowicz
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Abstract
A method is disclosed for characterizing a linear polymer molecule by measuring physical changes across an interface between two pools of media as the linear polymer traverses the interface and monomers of the polymer interact with the interface, where the physical changes are suitable to identify characteristics of the polymer.
Claims15
A method for evaluating a single polymer molecule or multiple polymer molecules one at a time, the polymer molecule(s) including linearly connected monomer residues, the method comprising:
- a) providing two separate pools of liquid containing medium and an interface between the two pools,
- b) providing candidate polymer molecules in one of the pools, and
- c) making interface-dependent measurements over time as individual monomer residues of a single polymer molecule interact sequentially with the interface, yielding data suitable to determine a monomer-dependent characteristic of the polymer molecule.
The method of claim 3, or claim 7, wherein a template-dependent polymer replicating catalyst is physically linked to the ion-permeable passage, and at least one of the conducting pools contains monomers suitable to be catalytically linked in the presence of the catalyst and the single polymer molecule.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.