Document Actions

You are here: Home Newsroom Press Releases 2012 Micro-Copier for Genome Analysis

Micro-Copier for Genome Analysis

New method holds promise to advance personalised medicine

Freiburg, Jul 31, 2012

Micro-Copier for Genome Analysis

The DNA sequences are replicated in picowell arrays (bottom) and transferred on microscopic slides (top): Source: IMTEK, Laboratory for MEMS Applications

The scientists Jochen Hoffmann, Dr. Guenter Roth, and Prof. Dr. Roland Zengerle from the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg can copy simultaneously 100.000 different DNA sequences in a so called picowell array that has the size of a one cent coin.

The picowell array is a chip with 100.000 wells on which the DNA sequences are dispersed in order to achieve a statistical distribution of one sequence per well. All wells are then covered with one microscopic slide and the DNA sequences are replicated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The resulting DNA copies bind to the miscroscopic slide at exactly the position of the original DNA sequence. The DNA copies can be decoded by next-generation sequencing systems in the wells of the array. The microscopic slides can be used, similar to DNA microarrays, for the rapid and cost-effective analysis of entire genomes – without the need for other equipment or additional transfer steps.
Such genome analyses allow insights into the regulatory systems of an organism. For example the genome analysis of a tumour cell can reveal which of its signal paths are defective. This knowledge in the context of “personalised medicine” can help to develop a tailored therapy for a specific patient group.

The project was supported by the “Program for Excellency in Science and Technology” as part of a grant from the Hans L- Merkle-Stiftung. The Robert Bosch GmbH and the Association for the Promotion of Science and Humanities in Germany also supported the project.

The topic is now further developed in the Lab-on-a-Chip research groups “Arrays” of Jochen Hoffmann and “Assays” of Dr. Guenter Roth. Lab-on-a-chip is a main research topic in cooperation with the Laboratory for MEMS Applications and the Institut fuer Mikro- und Informationstechnik der Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft (HSG-IMIT). The research groups are based on the campus of the Faculty for Engineering.

This work with the title “Solid-phase PCR in a picowell array for immobilizing and arraying 100.000 PCR products to a microscope slide” was published online on June 21, 2012 in the Journal Lab on chip of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The publisher specifically appreciated the article by including it in its weekly press information.

Full title of the publication:
J. Hoffmann, M. Trotter, F. von Stetten, R.Zengerle and G.Roth:
Solid-phase PCR in a picowell array for immobilizing and arraying 100,000 PCR products to a microscope slide

Lab Chip, 2012,12, 3049-3054


DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40534B

 

German Press Release


Contact:
Katrin Grötzinger, Kommunikation & Marketing, IMTEK
Tel.: 0761/203-73242
Fax: 0761/203-73299
E-Mail: katrin.groetzinger@imtek.uni-freiburg.de