SBIR Phase I: Solid State Instrumentation for Nucleic Acid Quantification

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This is a Small Business Innovation Research Phase I proposal We propose to develop instrumentation and techniques for the rapid and accurate quantification of nucleic acid concentrations. We believe that our method could be used by many molecular biology labs for routine measurements of oligonucleotides, plasmids, total RNA, MRNA or genomic DNA. The major component of this instrument is a detection module based on a very sensitive magnetic field sensor on a solid-state chip. The amount of nucleic acid is determined by measuring the magnetic field generated by probes bound to the nucleic acid. In Phase I studies we will improve our prototype and test the system with oligonucleotides, plasmids, total RNA, MRNA and/or genomic DNA. Our goal will be to produce an instrument which can reliably detect one nanogram of nucleic acid in a one microliter volume. We anticipate this instrument will be used in basic research to detect small amounts of nucleic acids. We also hope to produce a portable device for the detection of biological agents in water supplies and food processing materials.