'Megapixel' technique could improve genetic diagnostics

The advance could improve a range of genetic diagnostics and screenings where precise measurement is crucial, including the early detection of cancer; prenatal diagnostics; the detection of pathogens in food products; and the analysis of single-cell gene expression.

According to UBC, the new digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) device uses liquid surface tension, rather than systems of microscopic valves, to partition DNA samples into arrays of 1,000,000 chambers or more. The device enables the direct counting of single molecules isolated in individual chambers.

The density of reaction chambers achieved by the platform exceeds more traditional valve-based digital PCR techniques by a factor of 100.

‘This solves some major technical issues that have limited the scale and accuracy of traditional digital PCR techniques,’ said assistant Prof Carl Hansen of the UBC Department of Physics and Astronomy and Centre for High Throughput Biology. ‘It creates defect-free arrays of millions of uniform-volume sub-reactions, and controls dehydration of these reactions during thermocycling.’