HIGH-THROUGHPUT GENETIC-ANALYSIS USING MICROFABRICATED 96-SAMPLE CAPILLARY ARRAY ELECTROPHORESIS MICROPLATES

Capillary array electrophoresis (CAE) microplates that can analyze 96 samples in less than 8 min have been produced by bonding 10-cm-diamete r micromachined glass wafers to form a glass sandwich structure. The m icroplate has 96 sample wells and 48 separation channels with an injec tion unit that permits the serial analysis of two different samples on each capillary, An elastomer sheet with an 8 by 12 array of holes is placed on top of the glass sandwich structure to define the sample wel ls, Samples are addressed with an electrode array that makes up the th ird layer of the assembly, Detection of all lanes with high temporal r esolution was achieved by using a laser-excited confocal fluorescence scanner, To demonstrate the functionality of these microplates, electr ophoretic separation and fluorescence detection of a restriction fragm ent marker for the diagnosis of hereditary hemochromatosis were perfor med, CAE microplates will facilitate all types of high-throughput gene tic analysis because their high assay speed provides a throughput that is 50 to 100 times greater than that of conventional slab gels.