The Cell Photometrics Laboratory develops fully engineered instruments and new methods for biomedical research and clinical applications. Recent projects include a commercial automated 768-lane Sanger sequencing instrument, a 384-channel parallel imaging microfluidic cytometer, a commercial van-portable forensic DNA analyser, an important new method for highly multiplexed quantitative (qPCR) expression analysis, and a new deep-ultraviolet method for “weighing” the intracellular nucleic acid and protein mass inside cells.

768-Lane Microfluidic DNA Sequencing System

Under NIH funding we develped a 768-lane Sanger sequencing machine that has been commercialized by Shimadzu Biotechnology. The “BioMEMS-768” operates with large format microfabricated glass plates and is capable of long read (1000 base-pair) de novo DNA sequencing sequencing.

 

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384-Lane Parallel Microfluidic Cytometer

Under NIH funding we are now developing a novel 384-channel parallel microfluidic cytometer (PMC) that is capable of high-content (image-based) and rare-cell assays. This system will have more than ten-times the sample throughput of microscope-based imaging systems and may help to move cell-based assays to new applications in drug discovery, genomics, and cancer research.

 

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GeneTrack: Mobile DNA Forensics

Under funding from the National Institute of Justice, we developed the first van-portable microfluidic DNA “finger-printing” instrument. “GeneTrack” is currently a commercial product – in use for rapid (e.g., crime-scene) forensics.

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