1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to miniaturized reaction vessels and the use of such vessels and more specifically, this invention relates to miniaturized reaction vessels and arranging the vessels in an array for performing various biochemical procedures that require at least one reactant to be attached to a solid substrate.
2. Background of the Invention
The need to contain and manipulate small quantities of reactants is widespread. For example, forensic activities often deal with micro-quantities of DNA, bodily fluids, explosives, pesticides, microorganisms, toxins and other residues in trace amounts. Enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) procedures are such situations where small quantities of reactants are utilized.
Currently, devices exist to facilitate the containment and mixing of small quantities of reactants. Some of these devices include microtiter plates and microwell plates having reaction volumes in the range of 1 to 10 microliters. Such devices are frequently used in situations where one of the reactants need to be immobilized.
However, there are some instances where smaller reaction volumes are required (i.e., between approximately 0.1 nanoliters and 100 nanoliters) or where increased density of the immobilized component is sought for the purpose of increasing reaction output. In addition, economics often dictate limited use of mobile reactants viz. the immobilized fraction, particularly where the liquid state reactants are available in limited quantities. In such scenarios, concentrations of the reactants can be increased when the total necessary volume of the solvent decreases.
There are also instances where site-specific manipulation of molecules and construction of molecular combinations is desired, taking into consideration tendencies of repulsion, aggregation, steric hindrances, etc. Such instances would require multi-step procedures at the same molecular site and under the same reaction conditions.
Currently, no device or procedure exists to facilitate molecular interactions of the types mentioned supra.
A need exists in the art for a device to contain nanoliter quantities of reactants to facilitate specific interactions between the reactants. The reaction vessel must be designed to exploit steric and solution limitations associated with instances where specific molecules are manipulated. Finally, the device must be constructed with widely available materials and also must be easy and economical to use.