Thermal cycler for automatic performance of the polymerase chain reaction with close temperature control

1. A method comprising:

positioning a sealed vessel in at least one sample well, the sealed vessel comprising a top and containing a polymerase chain reaction sample mixture having a concentration, wherein the polymerase chain reaction mixture comprises DNA and at least two primers complementary to the DNA to create extension products of the DNA;

thermal cycling the polymerase chain reaction sample mixture in the sealed vessel received in the sample well, through many polymerase chain reaction cycles; and

contacting the top of the sealed vessel with the platen while heating the platen so that the platen is kept at a temperature from 94° C. to 110° C. during the many polymerase chain reaction cycles and condensation and evaporation of the sample mixture within the sealed vessel is avoided during the many polymerase chain reaction cycles such that the polymerase chain reaction sample mixture concentration is controlled through the many polymerase chain reaction cycles.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, a plurally of sealed vessels are received in the plurality of sample wells, and the plurality of sealed vessels comprise a microtiter plate format.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the platen is kept at a temperature of from 100° C. to 110° C.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the many polymerase chain reaction cycles comprises 25 to 30 cycles.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, and the sealed vessel comprises a plurality of sealed vessels received in the plurality of sample wells.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each of the sample tubes comprises a cap, and the contacting comprises forcing the bottom surface of the platen against the caps.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the contacting comprises deforming the caps.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the contacting comprises pressing each sample tube into its respective sample well.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each sample well comprises an inside surface, and the contacting comprises snugly contacting a lower portion of each sample tube with the respective inside surface of the sample well that contains the lower portion.

10. A method comprising:

positioning a sealed vessel in at least one sample well, the sealed vessel comprising a top and containing a polymerase chain reaction sample mixture having a concentration, wherein the polymerase chain reaction mixture comprises DNA and at least two primers complementary to the DNA to create extension products of the DNA;

thermal cycling the polymerase chain reaction sample mixture in the sealed vessel received in the sample well, through many polymerase chain reaction cycles; and

contacting the top of the sealed vessel with the platen while heating the platen so that the platen is heated to a temperature above the boiling point of water during the many polymerase chain reaction cycles and condensation and evaporation of the sample mixture within the sealed vessel is avoided during the many polymerase chain reaction cycles such that the polymerase chain reaction sample mixture concentration is controlled through the many polymerase chain reaction cycles.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, a plurality of sealed vessels are received in the plurality of sample wells, and the plurality of sealed vessels comprise a microtiter plate format.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the many polymerase chain reaction cycles comprises 25 to 30 cycles.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, and the sealed vessel comprises a plurality of sealed vessels received in the plurality of sample wells.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each of the sample tubes comprises a cap, and the contacting comprises forcing the platen against the caps.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the contacting comprises deforming the caps.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the contacting comprises pressing each sample tube into its respective sample well.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each sample well comprises an inside surface, and the contacting comprises snugly contacting a lower portion of each sample tube with the respective inside surface of the sample well that contains the lower portion.

18. A method comprising:

thermal cycling at least one sample well in which is received a sealed vessel, the sample well comprising a wall that terminates at a top surface, the sealed vessel comprising a tube and a cap and containing a polymerase chain reaction sample mixture having a concentration, the cap projecting above the top surface, wherein the polymerase chain reaction mixture comprises DNA and at least two primers complementary to the DNA to create extension products of the DNA;

contacting the cap of the sealed vessel with a bottom surface of a platen while heating the platen;

deforming the cap by forcing the bottom surface of the platen to a position on a reference plane above and spaced from the top surface such that the sealed vessel is pushed into the sample well; and

heating the platen so that the platen is kept at a temperature from 94° C. to 110° C. during many polymerase chain reaction cycles and condensation and evaporation of the sample mixture within the sealed vessel is avoided during the many polymerase chain reaction cycles such that the polymerase chain reaction sample mixture concentration is controlled through the many polymerase chain reaction cycles.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, a plurality of sealed vessels are received in the plurality of sample wells, and the plurality of sealed vessels comprise a microtiter plate format.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the platen is kept at a temperature of from 100° C. and 110° C.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, and the sealed vessel comprises a plurality of sealed vessels received in the plurality of sample wells.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each of the sample tubes comprises a cap, and the contacting comprises forcing the bottom surface of the platen against the caps.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the contacting comprises deforming the caps.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the contacting comprises pressing each sample tube into its respective sample well.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each sample well comprises an inside surface, and the contacting comprises snugly contacting a lower portion of each sample tube with the respective inside surface of the sample well that contains the lower portion.

26. A method comprising:

thermal cycling at least one sample well in which is received a sealed vessel, the sample well comprising a wall that terminates at a top surface, the sealed vessel comprising a tube and a cap and containing a polymerase chain reaction sample mixture having a concentration, the cap projecting above the top surface, wherein the polymerase chain reaction mixture comprises DNA and at least two primers complementary to the DNA to create extension products of The DNA;

contacting the cap of the sealed vessel with a bottom surface of a platen while heating the platen;

deforming the cap by forcing the bottom surface of the platen to a position on a reference plane above and spaced from the top surface such that the sealed vessel is pushed into the sample well; and

heating the platen so that the platen is heated to a temperature above the boiling point of water during many polymerase chain reaction cycles and condensation and evaporation of the sample mixture within the sealed vessel is avoided during the many polymerase chain reaction cycles such that the polymerase chain reaction sample mixture concentration is controlled through the many polymerase chain reaction cycles.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, a plurality of sealed vessels are received in the plurality of sample wells, and the plurality of sealed vessels comprise a microtiter plate format.

28. The method of claim 26 , wherein the at least one sample well comprises a plurality of sample wells, and the sealed vessel comprises a plurality of sealed vessels received in the plurality of sample wells.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each of the sample tubes comprises a cap, and the contacting comprises forcing the platen against the caps.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the contacting comprises deforming the caps.

31. The method of claim 29 , wherein the contacting comprises pressing each sample tube into its respective sample well.

32. The method of claim 28 , wherein the plurality of sealed vessels comprises a plurality of sample tubes, each sample well comprises an inside surface, and the contacting comprises snugly contacting a lower portion of each sample tube with the respective inside surface of the sample well that contains the lower portion.