The Secretary of State for Defence

The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Enigma Diagnostics Limited

Fluorogenics Ltd

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as Represented by the Secretary of State for Defence

Qiagen Gmbh

The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Brittanic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The Secretary of State of Defense

Engima Diagnostics Limited

Martin Lee

David James Squirrell

Dario Lyall Leslie

Hilary Bird

Gale Brightwell

Julie Deacon

John Shaw

David Wenn

Diane Lee

Mark Laverick

Ross Jones

Trevor John Beckett

Jordi Carrera Fabra

Anna Comengés Casas

Holger Engel

Christopher John Silk

Michael John Withers

George Richard Gregory

Graham Gutsell

Georgina Martin

Roderick Fuerst

Paul Moore

Diane Rachel Lee

Ricard Martín Blanco

Roger James Williamson

Felix Franks

Mark Andrew Laverick

Samantha Spiers

Diane Sutton

A microfluidic system is presented that includes a cartridge, a container, and a lid for the container. The cartridge includes a plurality of microfluidic channels coupled to one or more chambers. The container holds dry chemicals and includes a housing with a first opening and a second opening smaller than the first opening. The container is designed to be inserted into an opening of the cartridge, such that the container is independently secured within the opening. The insertion of the container allows for the container to be fluidically coupled with a microfluidic channel of the plurality of microfluidic channels via the second opening. The lid includes a column that extends from the lid into the container.

Dry chemistry container

The invention relates to the use of a polysaccharide having at least four saccharide units, such as stachyose, as a glass-forming agent for the freeze-drying of a reaction mixture comprising an enzyme. In particular, the enzyme is a polymerase useful in a nucleic acid amplification reaction such as a Polymerase Chain Reaction. Compositions comprising such polysaccharides as well as methods for preparing them, kits containing them and methods for using them form further aspects of the invention.

Freeze-dried composition

A reaction vessel for conducting a chemical or biochemical reaction, such as a polymerase chain reaction wherein at least one wall of said vessel comprises a metallic layer and an inner non-metallic layer. Reaction systems comprising combinations of vessels of the invention and apparatus for heating them, as well as particular reactions vessels are also described and claimed.

Reaction vessel comprising conductive layer and inner non-metallic layer

A method of carrying out an amplification reaction, said method comprising supplying to a well in a disposable unit (a) a sample which contains or is suspected of containing a target nucleic acid sequence (b) primers, nucleotides and enzymes required to effect said amplification reaction and (c) a buffer system, and subjecting the unit to thermal cycling conditions such that any target nucleic acid present within the sample is amplified; wherein the disposable unit comprises a thermally conducting layer and a facing layer having one or more reagent wells of up to 1000 microns in depth defined therebetween; and the reaction mixture comprises at least one of the following: A) a buffer system wherein the pH is above 8.3; B) a detergent; and/or C) a blocking agent. Apparatus for effecting the method as well as disposable units for use in the method are described. The method is particularly suitable for rapid PCR reactions.

Reaction system for performing in the amplification of nucleic acids

A liquid dispensing device comprising a hollow body having an opening in a lower end thereof for receiving liquid, and an integrated cap member arranged to sealingly close the body, said cap member comprising a resilient diaphragm which is deformable in a downwards direction. The device is suitable for use in automated apparatus.

Liquid dispensing device with a cap and a diaphragm

A method for detecting viable cells such as bacterial cells, within a sample, said method comprising (i) incubating said sample with a virus which is able to infect said cells under conditions which allow said virus to infect and replicate within any such cells which are viable; and (ii) detecting any nucleic acid obtained by replication of the virus in said cell.

Method for detecting viable cells in a sample by using a virus

A sample delivery system comprising (i) a cartridge comprising a body section adapted to hold a sealed sample vessel so as to fix the position of a seal of the sample vessel in relation to the cartridge; and (ii) apparatus adapted to receive said cartridge, said apparatus being provided with an opening system for opening said sealed sample vessel contained within the cartridge.

Sample processor

A method for detecting viable cells such as bacterial cells, within a sample, said method comprising (i) incubating said sample with a virus which is able to infect said cells under conditions which allow said virus to infect and replicate within any such cells which are viable; (ii) detecting any nucleic acid obtained by replication of the virus in said cell.

An analytical kit using RNA probes for the detection or analysis of nucleic acid sequences is described. These probes are contacted with a sample suspected of containing the nucleic acid sequence and if they form duplexes, they are hydrolysed. This may be done, for example, during an amplification reaction. AMP generated as a result of the hydrolysis is converted to ATP. The ATP may then be detected using bioluminescent reagents.

Analytical method and kit

A method for detecting the presence of a target nucleic acid sequence in a sample, said method comprising: performing nucleic acid amplification on the sample in the presence of (a) a DNA duplex binding agent, (b) a nucleic acid polymerase and (c) a reagent comprising an amplification primer which can hybridize to said target sequence when in single stranded form and which is connected at its 5' end to a probe which carries a label by way of a chemical linking group, said labeled probe being of a sequence which is similar to that of the said target nucleic acid sequence, such that it can hybridize to a complementary region in an amplification product, and wherein the label is able to absorb fluorescence from or donate fluorescent energy to the DNA duplex binding agent; and monitoring fluorescence of said sample.

Detection system

In apparatus for detecting the emission of fluorescent radiation from a sample in response to excitation by two or more different radiation sources () over the same time period, each radiation source () is imprinted with a modulation regime which can then be separately detected in the emitted fluorescent radiation. For instance in techniques based on fluorescent resonant energy transfer ('FRET'), the drive current to two or more different LED sources () may be frequency modulated, or pulse width modulated, according to different modulation regimes. Responses of the sample, for instance of different donor/acceptor probes contained in the sample, to each of the sources () can then be separately detected by means of the different modulation regimes, even where the wavelengths or wavelength ranges of the responses are the same or overlapping.

Fluorescence-based detection methods and apparatus

Method and apparatus for carrying out a thermal cycling reaction, wherein a succession of samples is conveyed through a series of sequentially arranged temperature control sites, each of the sites comprising means for supplying an electric current to, or inducing an electric current in, sample-containing vessels passing through it so as to induce temperature changes in the samples. Also provided is a sample support and its production, the support comprising a succession of sample vessels arranged sequentially one behind the next, preferably in the form of a linked chain, the support comprising an electrically conducting, preferably plastics, material which heats when an electric current passes through it.

Reaction system for thermal cycling

Growing community of inventors

Salisbury, United Kingdom

Martin Lee