An apparatus and system for contacting a mobile elongate solid phase, e.g. a ribbon with a flowing fluid phase, and a method for using the same in, for example solid phase synthesis. A particular apparatus comprises (i) a conduit which is of circular or non-circular transverse cross section and which defines a lumen to contain both the flowing fluid phase and the mobile elongate solid phase; (ii) fluid phase ports in communication with the lumen to allow the fluid phase to enter the lumen, flow through it and exit it; and (iii) solid phase ports in communication with the lumen to allow the mobile solid phase to enter the lumen, move through it and exit it, the apparatus being adapted to prevent fluid egress from its interior through the solid phase ports.

Described herein are in situ synthesized arrays and methods of making them, wherein array signal sensitivity and robustness is enhanced by carrying out conditioning steps and/or generating linkers during synthesis. An array comprises a surface with a collection of features, wherein the features comprise molecules or polymers attached to the surface. In certain embodiments of the invention, carrying out conditioning steps during array synthesis can yield arrays with improved signal. In other embodiments, linkers are synthesized on the array surface prior to synthesis of functional molecules, wherein increasing linker length can correspond to an improvement in the signal generated by the array.

The present invention provides improved automated systems and methods for synthesis of biopolymers including DNA and RNA. The automated systems and methods represent a number of improvements over existing systems for multiplex synthesis of biopolymers in a combinatorial fashion.

Methods for the automated template-free synthesis of user-defined sequence controlled biopolymers using microfluidic devices are described. The methods facilitate simultaneous synthesis of up to thousands of uniquely addressed biopolymers from the controlled movement and combination of regents as fluid droplets using microfluidic and EWOD-based systems. In some forms, biopolymers including nucleic acids, peptides, carbohydrates, and lipids are synthesized from step-wise assembly of building blocks based on a user-defined sequence of droplet movements. In some forms, the methods synthesize uniquely addressed nucleic acids of up to 1,000 nucleotides in length. Methods for adding, removing and changing barcodes on biopolymers are also provided. Biopolymers synthesized according to the methods, and libraries and databases thereof are also described. Modified biopolymers, including chemically modified nucleotides and biopolymers conjugated to other molecules are described.

The invention relates to a method for microarray transformation, wherein, by using a cavity chip with transformation matrix, a template array can be copied onto a planar support, and the information or spatial arrangement is changed in the process, so that a transformed second array forms. The invention further relates to a device for carrying out such a method.

The present invention provides a method for producing a myosin heavy chain in cardiac muscle cells differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from Homo sapiens. In the present method, first, a liquid culture medium containing the cardiac muscle cells is supplied onto a substrate comprising a first electrode, a second electrode and insulative fibers on the surface thereof. At least a part of the insulative fibers is located between the first electrode and the second electrode in a top view of the substrate. Then, the substrate is left at rest. Finally, the cardiac muscle cells are cultivated, while a pulse electric current is applied to the cardiac muscle cells through the first electrode and the second electrode.

A machine-readable medium and methods of reading and writing same are disclosed. The machine-readable medium comprises a substrate having an array of addressable locations thereon, each addressable location adapted to be physically associated with a collection of non-polymeric molecules. The molecules in each collection are selected from a set of unambiguously identifiable molecules, each molecule uniquely associated with a predetermined position in a numerical value, wherein the presence of the molecule in the collection indicates a predetermined digit at the associated position and the absence of said molecule in the collection indicates a zero at said associated position.

The present invention provides for a fully integrated microfluidic system capable of producing single-dose amounts of biotherapeutics at the point-of-care wherein protein production, purification and product harvest are all integrated as a single microfluidic device which is portable and capable of continuous-flow production of biotherapeutics at the microscale using a cell-free reaction system.

A microarray assembly for detection of a target molecule is disclosed. The microarray assemblies comprise an array chamber having a microarray located therein and features that facilitate liquid movement within the array chamber. Also disclosed are methods for making the microarray assembly using rollable films and methods for detecting microarray spots using an internal control fluorophore in the array spot.

Substrates for solid-phase synthesis are reused by freeing synthesized polymers without removing the linkers that hold the polymers to the substrate. The linkers may be made of oligonucleotides or polypeptides. In an implementation, the polymers are released by cleavage of the linkers and then the truncated linkers are regenerated by adding back the portion that was removed. In an implementation, molecular bonds between the linkers and the polymers are cleaved releasing the polymers while leaving the linkers available for reuse without regeneration. In an implementation, single-stranded oligonucleotide linkers are hybridized to complementary strands that hold the polymers to the substrate with double-stranded oligonucleotide complexes. The double-stranded oligonucleotide complexes are denatured releasing the polymers while leaving the original linkers attached to the substrate. The polymers that are synthesized with these techniques may be the same or different type of molecules than the linkers.