United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Mary Beth Wilhelm

Padraig Michael Furlong

Kanchana Uppili Sridhar

Morgan James Anderson

Antonio Joseph Ricco

Denise Kathleen Buckner

Linda Louise Jahnke

A non-aqueous fluidic system for extracting, filtering and concentrating lipid biomarkers from geological samples includes a sample input for receiving a sample, a combined comminution-extraction unit, a filter in fluid communication with the container, and a concentrator operable to receive the solvent phase from the filter and to concentrate lipid extracts for further analysis. The combined comminution-extraction unit has a container into which the received sample is introduced, a port through which one or more organic solvents are introduced into the container for mixing with the sample to thereby extract lipids into an organic phase, and a comminutor configured to rotate in the container to pulverize the sample to a uniform, reduced particle size and comprising a sonicator configured to agitate and disperse the sample into the one or more organic solvents.

Extractor for chemical analysis of lipid biomarkers

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Mary Beth Wilhelm