Methods for fabricating microarrays of biological samples
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorsPatrick O. Brown, Tidhar Dari Shalon
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for forming microarrays of biological samples on a support are disclosed. The method involves dispensing a known volume of a reagent at each selected array position, by tapping a capillary dispenser on the support under conditions effective to draw a defined volume of liquid onto the support. The apparatus is designed to produce a microarray of such regions in an automated fashion.
Claims7
A method of forming a microarray of discrete analyte-assay regions on a solid support, where each discrete region in the microarray has a selected, analyte-specific reagent, said method comprising,
- (a) loading an aqueous solution of a selected analyte-specific reagent in a reagent-dispensing device having an elongate capillary channel adapted to hold a quantity of the reagent solution and having a tip region at which the solution in the channel forms a meniscus,
- (b) tapping the tip of the dispensing device against a solid support at a defined position on the surface, with an impulse effective to break the meniscus in the capillary channel and deposit a selected volume between 0.002 and 2 nl of solution on the surface, and
- (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until said microarray is formed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.