Self-contained biological assay apparatus, methods, and applications

A self-contained, biological assay apparatus, comprising:

• a housing;
• a dispensing platform including a controllably-movable reagent dispensing system, disposed in the housing;
• a reagent supply component disposed in the housing;
• a pneumatic manifold removably disposed in the housing in a space shared by the dispensing platform, removably coupled to a fluidic transport layer and a plurality of reservoirs, wherein the fluidic transport layer, the reservoirs, and a test sample to be introduced therein are disposed in the housing in the space separate from the dispensing platform;
• a pneumatic supply system removably coupled to the pneumatic manifold in the housing in a space separate from the dispensing platform;
• and
• a control system coupled to at least one of the dispensing platform and the pneumatic supply system, disposed in the housing,
• wherein the apparatus is characterized as a self-contained, fully automated biological assay-performing apparatus.