Device and method for pressure-driven plug transport and reaction
The present invention provides microfabricated substrates and methods of conducting reactions within these substrates. The reactions occur in plugs transported in the flow of a carrier-fluid.
1. A composition comprising a plurality of plugs, wherein:
each plug comprises an aqueous fluid surrounded by a hydrophobic fluid;
the aqueous fluid of at least one plug comprises a biological reagent;
the hydrophobic fluid of each plug comprises a fluorosurfactant; and
the fluorosurfactant is linked to an oligoethylene glycol (OEG).
2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the plugs are of substantially identical size.
3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein each plug is between about one femtoliter and about one hundred nanoliters.
4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the biological reagent is at least one of a cell, a virion, an enzyme, a protein, and a nucleic acid.
5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein at least one plug comprises a reactant for an autocatalytic reaction.
6. The composition of claim 5 , wherein the autocatalytic reaction is a polymerase-chain reaction (PCR).
7. The composition of claim 6 , wherein at least one plug comprises a single biological reagent.
8. The composition of claim 7 , wherein the single biological reagent is DNA or RNA.
9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the fluorosurfactant comprises a hydrophilic head.
10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the oligoethylene glycol is linked to a terminal end of the fluorosurfactant.
11. The composition of claim 10 , wherein the fluorosurfactant is of the formula:
wherein m is 0, 3, 4, 5, or 6; and n is an integer of no less than 16.
12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the hydrophobic fluid is fluorinated.
13. The composition of claim 12 , wherein the hydrophobic fluid is perfluorinated.
14. The composition of claim 12 , wherein the hydrophobic fluid is selected from the group consisting of perfluorohexane, perfluoro(methylcyclohexane), perfluoro(1,3-dimethylcyclohexane), perfluorodecaline, perfluoroperhydrofluorene, perfluoroperhydrophenanthrene, perfluorotoluene, hexafluorobenzene, a fluorinert liquid, and combinations thereof.
15. The composition of claim 12 , wherein the hydrophobic fluid comprises a mixture of fluorinated substances of different viscosity.