SEQUENCING DNA IN NANOFABRICATED ARRAYS

描述(改编自调查人员的摘要)：本研究提案 是基于这样一个前提：DNA分析和测序是 基因组计划和大多数(如果不是全部)分子、细胞和 发育生物学。调查人员指出，这也是很快的 成为现代医学和法医实践的主要部分，以及这样的趋势 在分析和功能基因组学方面将继续加速 可预见的未来。因此，需要新的和不同的方法来排序和 分析DNA早已得到人们的认可。调查人员表示，目前的情况是 方法相对较慢，它们不是很容易移植，而且它们经常 需要熟练的技术人员，通常集中在以下特殊单位 大学、医疗和工业环境。在此应用程序中可能 在测序速度、成本和可移植性方面提出了解决方案。人造的 集中、处理和分析小型(NL)的基于SIO的设备 测序反应，DNA分子的限制性内切酶，和 描述了能够分辨和分析染色体大小的DNA的装置。 中心思想是利用半导体行业的进步来 在一个小的(平方厘米)芯片上制造合成的“凝胶”。该方法 利用纳米和微米尺度上的图案化和蚀刻的最新进展。 调查人员指出了所提议的设备的优点，例如速度 (在许多实施例中少于一分钟)、低成本(每个设备的复制品 可以不到一美元的价格)，以及它们可以很容易地 设计成并行运行(多个通道)。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the investigator's abstract): This research proposal is based on the premise that DNA analysis and sequencing is at the heart of all genome projects and most, if not all, research in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. The investigators point out that this is also fast becoming a major part of modern medical and forensic practice, and such trends in analytical and functional genomics will continue to accelerate for the foreseeable future. Thus, the need for new and different ways to sequence and analyze DNA has long been recognized. The investigators state that current methodologies are relatively slow, they are not very portable, and they often require skilled technical staff, usually concentrated in special units within university, medical and industrial settings. In this application possible solutions to sequencing speed, cost, and portability are proposed. Artificial SiO-based devices in which to concentrate, handle, and analyze small (nl) volumes of sequencing reactions, restriction digests of DNA molecules, and devices capable of resolving and analyzing chromosome-sized DNA are described. The central idea is to exploit advances in the semiconductor industry to fabricate synthetic "gels" on a small (square centimeter) chip. The approach utilizes recent advances in patterning and etching on the nano and micro scale. The investigators point to advantages of the proposed devices, such as speed (less than a minute for many embodiments), low cost (replicas of each device can be made for less than one dollar), and the ease with which they can be designed to run in parallel (many channels).