Aclara Bio Receives DNA Prep Grant

Aclara BioSciences Inc. (Hayward, CA) has been awarded a $3.6 million grant for DNA sample preparation technology by the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The grant will accelerate Aclara's development of microfluidic LabCards having integrated DNA sample preparation capabilities.

Today's DNA sample preparation methods for sequencing and other genetic analysis require multiple steps, which collectively represent the most costly and labor-intensive component of genetic analysis. The NIST grant will contribute to Aclara's development of LabCards that miniaturize and integrate these DNA sample preparation steps, thereby significantly reducing the labor and reagent requirements involved in genetic analysis.

Fig. 1: Aclara's handheld LabCard

LabCards use electric fields to control the movement of samples and reagents through interconnected microcapillaries and microreactors. Aclara has broad patent protection covering this electronically controlled microfluidics (or "lab-on-a-chip") technology. Aclara's other innovation, derived from work at NIST between 1994 and 1996, is the use of plastic substrates in lab-on-a-chip technology. Because of their low cost and ease of manufacture, plastics will be essential to development of single-use lab-on-a-chip products for diagnostic and research markets. Aclara plans to develop such LabCards for DNA sample preparation, an application where sample carryover and cross-contamination are significant sources of error.

"Advanced tools for DNA analysis, such as the micro-electrophoresis devices being co-developed by Aclara and Perkin-Elmer, will create significant demands on the front-end process of preparing DNA samples," explained Herbert H. Hooper, Aclara's executive vice president and chief technical officer. "The NIST grant will accelerate our development of highly integrated genetic analysis systems, which address both sample preparation and analysis in an integrated fashion."

Future of Lab-on-a-Chip: Plastics

Fig. 2: Plastic chip production is the key to high-end applications for disposable LabCards.

Aclara uses two main steps in the production of plastic chips: formation of microstructures in a base layer and sealing of the base layer with a cover layer. To form the base layer, microstructure patterns are replicated from a micromachined master (or submaster) onto a polymeric substrate, shown conceptually in the accompanying figure. Aclara has developed several different replication technologies, which span a range of capabilities and economies of scale.

Aclara has demostrated rapid, high-resolution electrophoretic separations in plastic chips. Examples of double-stranded DNA separations are shown in figure 3. DNA fragment sizing is required in numerous applications and represents an attractive target market for ready-to-use, disposable plastic chips.

Fig. 3: Separation of double-stranded DNA on a LabCard

For more information: Herbert H. Hooper, Executive VP, Aclara BioSciences Inc., 3906 Trust Way, Hayward, CA 94545-371. Tel: 510-293-1855.