Aram Adourian

Recent developments in DNA sequencing by capillary and microdevice electrophoresis

The present review covers papers published in the years 1997 and 1998 on DNA sequencing by capillary and microdevice electrophoresis. The article does not include other electrophoretic DNA applications such as analysis of oligonucleotides, genotyping, and mutational analysis. Capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) is starting to become a viable competitor to slab gel electrophoresis for DNA sequencing. Commercially available multicapillary array sequencers are now entering sequencing facilities which to date have totally relied on traditional slab gel technology. CGE research on DNA sequencing therefore becomes increasingly concerned with the critical task of fine‐tuning the operational parameters to create robust sequencing systems. Electrophoretic microdevices are being considered the next technological step in DNA sequencing by electrophoresis.

BIOMEMS-768 DNA Sequencer

The Whitehead Institute has developed an automated DNA sequencer that will go into final Genome Center testing during the summer of 2001. The system comprises a total of 768 separation channels distributed over two plates. The working elements are 50-cm × 25-cm, 384-lane microfabricated glass elements, which undergo alternating electrophoresis and regeneration under use with an exchangeable sieving matrix. The microfluidic and sample transfer devices needed to service the plates are integrated into the same compact instrument. Concurrently with the instrument development we have developed all the protocols, materials and surface preparations to achieve matrix-limited separations of single-stranded DNA in the microfabricated plate format.