A nucleic acid amplification reagent includes a first probe which anneals to a target nucleic acid in a region sandwiched between a site to which the 3 end of a forward primer anneals and a site to which the 3 end of a reverse primer anneals in a template nucleic acid, and a second probe which anneals to a nucleic acid other than the target nucleic acid in the region. Each of the first probe and the second probe includes a dye which emits light in a wavelength band mutually overlapping partially.

A system is provided for separating particulates dispersed within a base fluid wherein at least one of the particulates and the base fluid is an organic liquid. The system relies on a microfluidic separation device comprising a microchannel in fluid communication across a microporous body with a collection chamber. Particulates and a portion of the base fluid traverse the microporous body under the influence of an external force field and are collected in the collection chamber. A first fluid flow having a first flow rate through the microchannel together with the microporous body operationally generate a second fluid flow within the collection chamber as base fluid and particulates traverse the microporous body and enter the collection chamber, and as base fluid re-traverses the microporous body and re-enters the microchannel, the second fluid flow having a flow rate which is a fraction of the first flow rate.

Methods and apparatus for manufacturing a microfluidic arrangement are disclosed. In one arrangement a continuous body of a first liquid is provided in direct contact with a substrate. A second liquid is provided in direct contact with the first liquid and covering the first liquid. The first liquid is in direct contact exclusively with the second liquid and the substrate. The second liquid is forced through the first liquid and into contact with the substrate in selected regions of the substrate in order to divide the continuous body of the first liquid into a plurality of sub-bodies of the first liquid that are separated from each other by the second liquid. The first liquid is immiscible with the second liquid. Surface tension stably holds the plurality of sub-bodies of the first liquid separated from each other by the second liquid.

A system for collecting a sample of a gas in an aqueous environment is described herein. The system includes a collection vessel having a body having a cavity and a bottom edge forming a perimeter around an opening on an underside of the body. The opening is sized to receive the sample of the gas into the cavity as the sample of the gas travels upwardly and the main body is positioned directly above the sample of gas in the aqueous environment. The collection vessel also includes a valve coupled to the body. The valve provides for the sample of the gas to be removed from the cavity without travelling through the opening on the underside of the main body. The collection vessel also includes a confinement structure having a and a coupling mechanism configured to retain the collection vessel at least partially in the confinement structure.

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to microfluidic devices that allow for scalable on-chip screening of combinatorial libraries and methods of use thereof. Droplets comprising individual molecular species to be screened are loaded onto the microfluidic device. The droplets are labeled by methods known in the art, including but not limited to barcoding, such that the molecular species in each droplet can be uniquely identified. The device randomly sorts the droplets into individual microwells of an array of microwells designed to hold a certain number of individual droplets in order to derive combinations of the various molecular species. The paired droplets are then merged in parallel to form merged droplets in each microwell, thereby avoiding issues associated with single stream merging. Each microwell is then scanned, e.g., using microscopy, such as high content imaging microscopy, to detect the optical labels, thereby identifying the combination of molecular species in each microwell.