According to various embodiments, a method is provided that comprises washing an array of DNA-coated beads on a substrate, with a wash solution to remove stacked beads from the substrate. The wash solution can include inert solid beads in a carrier. The DNA-coated beads can have an average diameter and the solid beads in the wash solution can have an average diameter that is at least twice the diameter of the DNA-coated beads. The washing can form dislodged DNA-coated beads and a monolayer of DNA-coated beads. In some embodiments, first beads for forming an array are contacted with a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) solution comprising a PEG having a molecular weight of about 350 Da or less. In some embodiments, slides for forming bead arrays are provided as are systems for imaging the same.

The present invention provides devices and systems for use at the point of care. The methods devices of the invention are directed toward automatic detection of analytes in a bodily fluid. The components of the device are modular to allow for flexibility and robustness of use with the disclosed methods for a variety of medical applications.

In order to reduce the cost of producing a spot array substrate and reduce the cost of nucleic acid polymer analysis, a spot array substrate is used which is produced by preparing a resin substrate 402 having a surface on which an uneven pattern is formed and a plurality of bead sitting positions set in a two-dimensional array within the uneven pattern, and loading surface-modified beads onto the bead sitting positions of the resin substrate.

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).

The present invention provides devices and systems for use at the point of care. The methods devices of the invention are directed toward automatic detection of analytes in a bodily fluid. The components of the device are modular to allow for flexibility and robustness of use with the disclosed methods for a variety of medical applications.

A method for sequencing a polynucleotide sample having a barcode sequence, includes: introducing a series of nucleotides to the polynucleotide sample according to a predetermined flow ordering; obtaining a series of signals resulting from the introducing of nucleotides to the polynucleotide sample; and resolving the series of signals over the barcode sequence to render a flowspace string, wherein the flowspace string is a codeword of an error-tolerant code capable of distinguishing the barcode sequence from other barcode sequences in the presence of one or more errors.

The invention relates to a catalyst and catalyst layer and process for preparing dimethyl ether from synthesis gas or methanol as well as the use of the catalyst or catalyst layer in this process.

This invention provides a technique enabling to detect target molecules of low concentration with high sensitivity. This invention includes (i) a step of introducing a hydrophilic solvent (42) containing beads (40),(41) into a space (30) between (a) a lower layer section (10) including a plurality of receptacles (13) each of which is capable of storing only one of the beads (41),(41) and which are separated from each other by a side wall (12) having a hydrophobic upper surface and (b) an upper layer section (20) facing a surface of the lower layer section (10) on which surface the plurality of receptacles (13) are provided; and (ii) a step of introducing a hydrophobic solvent (43) into the space (30), the step (ii) being carried out after the step (i).

The invention describes a method for isolating one or more genetic elements encoding a gene product having a desired activity, comprising the steps of: (a) compartmentalising genetic elements into microcapsules; and (b) sorting the genetic elements which express the gene product having the desired activity; wherein at least one step is under microfluidic control. The invention enables the in vitro evolution of nucleic acids and proteins by repeated mutagenesis and iterative applications of the method of the invention.

The invention provides particle compositions having applications in nucleic acid analysis. Nucleic acid polymer particles of the invention allow polynucleotides to be attached throughout their volumes for higher loading capacities than those achievable solely with surface attachment. In one aspect, nucleic acid polymer particles of the invention comprise polyacrylamide particles with uniform size distributions having low coefficients of variations, which result in reduced particle-to-particle variation in analytical assays. Such particle compositions are used in various amplification reactions to make amplicon libraries from nucleic acid fragment libraries.