A tiny drop of your blood has enough DNA to diagnose or incriminate you - little wonder you demand a contamination-free analysis. As reported this month in Genome Research, Larry Kricka and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania have constructed a microchip machine to take blood straight from collection to DNA analysis, without separate steps that could deplete or contaminate samples.

Previously developed machines for DNA analysis separate the preparation of samples from the analysis. To create a more integrated system, Larry Kricka and colleagues have developed a dual-purpose glass microchip that filters DNA-carrying white blood cells from whole blood and then amplifies targeted DNA sequences, a key step in DNA analyses. The researchers successfully targeted the coagulation Factor V gene from 3 microliters of human whole blood. Furthermore, the researchers have built a prototype of an expanded microchip machine that will be able to perform even further analyses on the same sample, promising an uncontaminated future for DNA analysis.

Contact (author):
Larry Kricka
Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA 19104
USA
Email: [email protected]