Lightcast Discovery Ltd

Maciej Sosna

Barnaby Balmforth

Cameron Alexander Frayling

Thomas Henry Isaac

Gareth Podd

Tom Isaac

Jasmin Conterio

Kerr Francis Johnson

Richard Ingham

Andreas Michael Waeber

Emma Head

Paul Loeffen

Claire Marie Murzeau

Nele Marie Godette Dieckmann

A method of manipulating microdroplets having an average volume in the range 0.5 femtolitres to 10 nanolitres comprised of at least one biological component and a first aqueous medium having a water activity of aof less than 1 is provided. It is characterised by the step of maintaining the microdroplets in a water-immiscible carrier fluid which further includes secondary droplets having an average volume less than 25% of the average volume of the microdroplets up to and including a maximum of 4 femtolitres and wherein the volume ratio of carrier fluid to total volume of microdroplets per unit volume of the total is greater than 2:1. The method may be employed for example with microdroplets containing biological cells or with microdroplets containing single nucleoside phosphate such as are prepared in a droplet-based nucleic acid sequencer. The method is suitable for controlling for example cellular, chemical or enzymatic processes and/or microdroplet size in microdroplets or single nucleotide nucleic acid sequencing.

Microdroplet manipulation method

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Maciej Sosna