Dolomite, a world leader in the design and manufacture of microfluidic systems
and devices, is pleased to announce its collaboration with GigaGen Inc.
(San Francisco, CA) in the development of a novel Droplet Merger Chip for massively parallel single cell genetic analysis.
Measuring
just 15mm x 22.5mm, the novel glass microfluidic chip facilitates fast
and consistent merging of two individual droplet streams, benefiting a
wide range of applications including DNA amplification, biochemical
analysis, single cell analysis and high throughput experimentation.
Unlike other methods which incorporate expensive and bulky high voltage
electronics to merge droplets using electrostatic forces, the Droplet
Merger Chip works by simply "squeezing" droplets together in a carefully
designed merging chamber.
The
result is a unique microfluidic device, which points the way to low
cost disposable chips in future versions. "A simple and reliable droplet
merging technology is an important step forward for us", said Dr. David
Johnson, CEO and founder of GigaGen Inc., adding "We are now using
these chips in our game-changing system for massively parallel single
cell genetic analysis." GigaGen Inc. filed a patent application
describing the chip design and its applications in the field of genetic
analysis of cells.
As
part of a license agreement with GigaGen Inc., Dolomite will be
offering the technology later this year to research users in academia
and commercial users in a wide range of application areas. "Many of our
customers have asked us for chips to create droplets, merge them, and
then carry out further processing and analysis", commented Dr. Andrew
Lovatt, CEO of Dolomite. "Our partnership with Sphere Fluidics gives us
additional capability in selecting the surfactants we use, to optimize
droplet behaviour and stability under a wide range of temperature and
biological conditions."
For more information click on the following
link to watch Dolomite's droplet merging video. For
further information on Dolomite's complete portfolio of microfluidic
products including chips, connectors/ interconnects, valves, pumps and
custom devices please visit
www.dolomite-microfluidics.com.
The Dolomite Centre LimitedEstablished
in 2005 as the world's first Microfluidic Application Centre, Dolomite
focused on working with customers to turn their concepts for
microfluidic applications into reality. Today, Dolomite is the world
leader in solving microfluidic problems. With offices in the UK and US
and distributors throughout the rest of the world, its clients range
from universities developing leading-edge analytical equipment, to
manufacturers of chemical, life science and clinical diagnostics
systems.
Dolomite
is pioneering the use of microfluidic devices for small-scale fluid
control and analysis, enabling manufacturers to develop more compact,
cost-effective and powerful instruments. By combining specialist glass,
quartz and ceramic technologies with knowledge of high performance
microfluidics, Dolomite is able to provide solutions for a broad range
of application areas including environmental monitoring, clinical
diagnostics, food and beverage, nuclear, agriculture, petrochemical,
cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Furthermore Dolomite's
in-house micro-fabrication facilities that include clean rooms and
precision glass processing facilities allow to prototype and test all
solutions rapidly which ensures a faster development cycle and reduces
the time to market.
For more information please visit
www.dolomite-microfluidics.com.
GigaGen Inc. GigaGen's
mission is to provide technology to clinical researchers and physicians
that unlocks personalized genetic data and guides treatment for nearly
any disease, using only a routine blood draw. Critical personalized
genetic data that would help clinical researchers and physicians monitor
disease is locked away in rare cells circulating in a patient's blood.
For example, T cells that indicate imminent rejection of a hematopoietic
stem cell transplant may be as rare as one in hundreds of thousands of T
cells. Circulating tumor cells may be as rare as one cell per
milliliter of blood. Current methods lack the sensitivity and
specificity to generate useful genetic data for such target cells.
GigaGen
has developed a patent-pending core technology for high-throughput
measurement of dozens of genetic loci in millions of single cells in
parallel. The technology combines advanced microfluidics,
next-generation sequencing, and bioinformatics to genetically analyze
millions of single cells per hour. The technology is readily adaptable
for a variety of applications, from parallelized phenotyping and
clonotyping of immune cells to genetic characterization of circulating
tumor cells. GigaGen is currently selling genetic analysis services to
lead customers at Stanford University Medical Center and City of Hope.
GigaGen
is funded by grants from NIH, NSF, and DOE, and has secured private
seed capital from a Silicon Valley genetics CEO, Sequoia Capital, and
Claremont Creek Ventures.
For further information on GigaGen's products and services, please visit
www.gigagen.com.