In vitro evolution in microfluidic systems
AssigneesMedical Research Council, President and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsAndrew David Griffiths, David A. Weitz, Darren R. Link, Keunho Ahn, Jerome Bibette
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Abstract
The invention describes a method for isolating one or more genetic elements encoding a gene product having a desired activity, comprising the steps of: (a) compartmentalizing genetic elements into microcapsules; and (b) sorting the genetic elements which express the gene product having the desired activity; wherein at least one step is under microfluidic control. The invention enables the in vitro evolution of nucleic acids and proteins by repeated mutagenesis and iterative applications of the method of the invention.
Claims9
A method for detecting a product of an enzymatic reaction, comprising the steps of:
- providing a droplet generator to produce, under microfluidic control, a plurality of aqueous microcapsules surrounded by an immiscible continuous phase that comprises a fluorinated oil that comprises a fluorinated polymer surfactant, each of the plurality of microcapsules comprising an enzyme, a genetic element, and reagents for the enzymatic reaction;
- pooling the microcapsules into one or more common compartments such that a portion of the plurality of microcapsules contact each other but do not fuse with each other due to the presence of the surfactant;
- conducting the enzymatic reaction on the genetic element of at least one of the plurality of microcapsules within the one or more common compartments;
- and
- detecting the product of the enzymatic reaction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.