The present disclosure provides an apparatus for synthesizing a biopolymer, a method for preparing an apparatus for synthesizing a biopolymer, and a method of synthesizing a biopolymer.

A method of synthesis of a nucleotide chain, the nucleotide chain including an ordered plurality of nucleotides, the method including: identifying a first nucleotide of the ordered plurality of nucleotides; controlling a polymerase enzyme to assemble the first nucleotide onto the nucleotide chain by electrically modulating an electrode; identifying a subsequent nucleotide in the ordered plurality of nucleotides as a current nucleotide; and controlling the polymerase enzyme to assemble the current nucleotide onto an end of the nucleotide chain by electrically modulating the electrode.

High surface area coatings are applied to solid substrates to increase the surface area available for solid-phase synthesis of polymers. The high surface area coatings use three-dimensional space to provide more area for functional groups to bind polymers than an untreated solid substrate. The polymers may be oligonucleotides, polypeptides, or another type of polymer. The solid substrate is a rigid supportive layer made from a material such as glass, a silicon material, a metal material, and plastic. The coating may be thin films, hydrogels, microparticles. The coating may be made from a metal oxide, a high- dielectric, a low- dielectric, an etched metal, a carbon material, or an organic polymer. The functional groups may be hydroxyl groups, amine groups, thiolate groups, alkenes, n-alkenes, alkalines, N-Hydroxysuccinimide (NHS)-activated esters, polyaniline, aminosilane groups, silanized oxides, oligothiophenes, and diazonium compounds. Techniques for applying coatings to solid substrates and attaching functional groups are also disclosed.

An microreactor array is provided that includes a plurality of microreactors in a substrate. The plurality of microreactors is in fluid communication with a common fluid delivery channel. Each of the microreactors includes an electrode configured to generate one or more gaseous bubbles that can block reagent access to selected microreactors. A method for selective reactions in a microreactor array is also provide.

The disclosure generally relates to compositions and methods for the production of nucleic acid molecules. In some aspects, the invention allows for the microscale generation of nucleic acid molecules, optionally followed by assembly of these nucleic acid molecules into larger molecules. In some aspects, the invention allows for efficient production of nucleic acid molecules (e.g., large nucleic acid molecules such as genomes).

A method of storing information using monomers such as nucleotides is provided including converting a format of information into a plurality of bit sequences of a bit stream with each having a corresponding bit barcode, converting the plurality of bit sequences to a plurality of corresponding oligonucleotide sequences using one bit per base encoding, synthesizing the plurality of corresponding oligonucleotide sequences on a substrate having a plurality of reaction locations, and storing the synthesized plurality of corresponding oligonucleotide sequences.

Polymers synthesized by solid-phase synthesis are selectively released from a solid support by reversing the bias of spatially addressable electrodes. Change in the current and voltage direction at one or more of the spatially addressable electrodes changes the ionic environment which triggers cleavage of linkers that leads to release of the attached polymers. The spatially addressable electrodes may be implemented as CMOS inverters embedded in an integrated circuit (IC). The IC may contain an array of many thousands of spatially addressable electrodes. Control circuity may independently reverse the bias on any of the individual electrodes in the array. This provides fine-grained control of which polymers are released from the solid support. Examples of polymers that may be synthesized on this type of array include oligonucleotides and peptides.

Described herein are electrochemically active-material structures comprising silicon and one or more inert elements, chemically and/or atomically dispersed in these electrochemically active-material structures. Also described are negative battery electrodes and lithium-ion electrochemical cells comprising such electrochemically active-material structures as well as methods of fabricating such structures, electrodes, and lithium-ion electrochemical cells. Some examples of atomically-dispersed inert elements include, but are not limited to, hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and chlorine (Cl). Unlike silicon, inert elements do not interact with lithium at an operating voltage of the negative battery electrode and therefore do not contribute to the overall cell capacity. At the same time, these inert elements help to mitigate silicon swelling by operating as a mechanical buffer, support structure, and/or additional conductive pathways. Such electrochemically active-material structures can be formed by reacting (chemically or electrochemically) one or more precursors that include silicon and corresponding inert elements.

A method and apparatus for the manipulation of colloidal particulates and biomolecules at the interface between an insulating electrode such as silicon oxide and an electrolyte solution. Light-controlled electrokinetic assembly of particles near surfaces relies on the combination of three functional elements: the AC electric field-induced assembly of planar aggregates; the patterning of the electrolyte/silicon oxide/silicon interface to exert spatial control over the assembly process; and the real-time control of the assembly process via external illumination. The present invention provides a set of fundamental operations enabling interactive control over the creation and placement of planar arrays of several types of particles and biomolecules and the manipulation of array shape and size. The present invention enables sample preparation and handling for diagnostic assays and biochemical analysis in an array format, and the functional integration of these operations. In addition, the present invention provides a procedure for the creation of material surfaces with desired properties and for the fabrication of surface-mounted optical components.

A method of storing information using monomers such as nucleotides is provided including converting a format of information into a plurality of bit sequences of a bit stream with each having a corresponding bit barcode, converting the plurality of bit sequences to a plurality of corresponding oligonucleotide sequences using one bit per base encoding, synthesizing the plurality of corresponding oligonucleotide sequences on a substrate having a plurality of reaction locations, and storing the synthesized plurality of corresponding oligonucleotide sequences.