Dolomite and GigaGen have collaborated to develop a droplet merging technology for parallel single cell genetic analysis
Measuring 15mm by 22.5mm, the glass microfluidic chip is designed to facilitate fast and consistent merging of two individual droplet streams, benefiting a wide range of applications including DNA amplification, biochemical analysis, single cell analysis and high throughput experimentation.
Unlike other methods which incorporate expensive and bulky high voltage electronics to merge droplets using electrostatic forces, the Droplet Merger Chip works by simply squeezing droplets together in a carefully designed merging chamber.
The result is a unique microfluidic device, which points the way to low cost disposable chips in future versions.
'A simple and reliable droplet merging technology is an important step forward for us', said Dr David Johnson, founder of GigaGen.
'We are now using these chips in our game-changing system for parallel single cell genetic analysis.' As part of a license agreement with GigaGen, Dolomite will be offering the technology later this year to research users in academia and commercial users in a wide range of application areas.
