Microfluidic Device Attaches to Microscope for Efficient Polyelectrolyte Testing
This device attaches to a microscope for use in purification, concentration, and classification of nucleic acids in biological materials, resulting in more efficient polyelectrolyte testing and analysis. The global market for nucleic acid isolation and purification should exceed $9 billion by 2028. In particular, chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, infectious disease research, transplant medicine, and fetal monitoring use RNA diagnostics. However, most nucleic acid purification protocols are time-consuming, use harsh chemicals, and may only be effective for DNA.
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a device that purifies, concentrates, and classifies both long strand DNA and RNA. The device is portable and attaches to a microscope for efficient and relatively low-cost polyelectrolyte testing.
Application
Cost-effective device that is portable, versatile, and useful for both DNA and RNA extraction and purification
Advantages
- Effectively isolates and concentrates long-strand RNA viruses, allowing for the identification of RNA viruses, potentially including Covid-19
- Can be adjusted for various sizes of nucleic acids, making this device versatile and eliminating the need for multiple tools
- Low-cost, portable, and easily attachable to microscopes, increasing opportunities for use
Technology
This microfluidic device utilizes a pressure-driven flow and electrical field to concentrate and separate nucleic acids from other sample components including lipids and proteins. The flow and electric field strengths can be adjusted to target specific lengths of nucleic acids for concentration. After fractionating the concentrated nucleic acids by molecular weight, the nucleic acid length can be measured.
Brochure
