A sample processing apparatus (102) includes a plurality of processing stations (108) configured to process a sample that includes a DNA sample and an ILS substance carried by a sample carrier. One of the plurality of processing stations includes an electrophoresis processing station. The sample processing apparatus further includes an optical reader (110) that generates a plurality of DNA sample color group signals and an ILS signal based on a result of the electrophoresis processing station. One of the DNA sample color group signals includes at least the locus amelogenin X-peak. The sample processing apparatus further includes an ILS signal validator (112) that validates peaks of the ILS signal as true peaks of the ILS signal only if the amelogenin X-peak of the one of the DNA sample color group signals is found between two peaks of the ILS signal.

The invention provides methods and compositions, including, without limitation, algorithms, computer readable media, computer programs, apparatus, and systems for determining the identity of nucleic acids in nucleotide sequences using, for example, data obtained from sequencing by synthesis methods. A plurality of smaller flow cells is employed, each with a relatively small area to be imaged, in order to provide greater flexibility and efficiency.

Proteins that are electrophoretically separated in a gel are derivatized to produce fluorescent emissions by incorporating halo-substituted organic compounds into one or both of the electrode buffer solutions at the two ends of the gel. The halo-substituted compounds used are ones that bear an electric charge at the pH of the buffer solutions and gel, and the polarity of the charge on the compounds is such that the compounds migrate from the electrode buffer into the gel under the electrophoretic influence concurrently with the migration of the proteins into the gel. Once the proteins are separated and distributed within the gel and the gel is fully penetrated with the halo-substituted compounds, the gel is irradiated with ultraviolet light to induce a reaction between the halo-substituted compounds and the proteins through the tryptophan residues on the proteins, producing fluorescent reaction products.

Analyte arrays such as solutes in a slab-shaped gel following electrophoresis, and particularly arrays that are in excess of 3 cm square and up to 25 cm square and higher, are imaged at distances of 5 cm or less by either forming sub-images of the entire array and stitching together the sub-images by computer-based stitching technology, or by using an array of thin-film photoresponsive elements that is coextensive with the analyte array to form a single image of the array.

An apparatus for glycan analysis is disclosed. The apparatus includes a plurality of loading wells adapted to receive a plurality of samples; a plurality of capillaries arranged in correspondence with the loading wells, each of the capillaries including a first portion including a stacking gel and a second portion including a resolving gel; and a plurality of eluting wells arranged in correspondence with the capillaries and adapted to receive a portion of the samples having traversed the capillaries.

Provided are devices that include a polymeric separation medium configured to immobilize one or more constituents of interest in the polymeric separation medium and have an increased pore size upon application of an applied stimulus. Systems including the devices, as well as methods of using the devices, are also provided. Embodiments of the present disclosure find use in a variety of different applications, including detecting whether an analyte is present in a fluid sample.

A computer-implemented method for determining minor variants. The method includes receiving electropherogram sequence data from a test sample, identifying any non-primary peaks in the electropherogram, and characterizing identified non-primary peaks using at least one signal feature. The method may further include analyzing the at least one signal feature across identified non-primary peaks to identify variant candidates, evaluating at least one peak characteristic of each of the identified variant candidates, and classifying variant candidates as bona fide variants based on the evaluation of peak characteristics.

The present invention provides a method for detecting an analyte with high sensitivity. In the present method, a solution is supplied onto a substrate comprising a first electrode and a second electrode. Then, an alternating voltage is applied between the first electrode and the second electrode to aggregate, onto the surface between the first electrode and the second electrode by dielectrophoresis, bioparticles and dielectric particles contained in the solution. The aggregated bioparticles are broken to release the analyte contained in the bioparticles. The released analyte is bound to a first antibody and a second antibody to cause the dielectric particles to be immobilized onto the substrate through formation of a sandwich structure composed of the first antibody, the analyte, and the second antibody. Finally, the analyte is detected through the fluorescent substance contained in the immobilized dielectric particles.

A multi-channel bio-separation system configured to utilize a cartridge that has a individual, separate integrated reagent (i.e., a separation buffer) reservoir dedicated for each separation channel. The multiple channels may have different characteristics, such as different separation medium of different chemistries, different separation length, different channel sizes and internal coatings. In one embodiment, the cartridge does not include integrated detection optics. Not all channels need to be operative. One or more of the channels in the cartridge may be “dummy channels” that are not operative (e.g., not provided with a capillary tube). A capillary tube may be routed between the reservoir/electrode (anode) of one channel to an electrode (cathode) in another channel, thus allowing a longer length of capillary tube to be used to define a longer separation channel to improve resolution.

The present invention relates to a method for determining size of biomolecules separated in a medium by an electric field using marker molecules of known size, comprising —(101) detecting a plurality of bands and forming a detected marker sequence and a detected unknown sequence based on a separation criterion, —(102) determining band properties for each detected band, —(103) comparing the band properties of the detected bands of the detected marker sequence with known band properties for a plurality of marker molecules forming a known marker sequence and assigning a score to each comparison, said score being based on at least one of relative distance, relative intensity, expected distance and expected intensity between bands, —(104) selecting the comparison with the highest score and associating all or a subset of the detected bands of the detected marker sequence with said plurality of marker molecules of the known marker sequence in accordance with said comparison to determine size of the all or a subset of the detected marker sequence, and —(105) comparing the bands of the detected marker sequence with the bands of the detected unknown sequence to determine a size of biomolecules for each identified band of the detected unknown sequence based on the known sizes of the marker molecules. The invention also relates to software configured to perform the method and to a computer readable medium for storing said software.