SYSTEM AND METHODS

• Main Authors: CRAIG, Frank F, Day, Richard Francis, Rehak, Marian, Liu, Xin, Smith, Clive A, Li, Xin, Pawate, Vinayaka, Hazell, Michael Stewart, Marchington, Robert Frank, Benazzi, Giuseppe, Holmes, David
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 07.10.2021
• Subjects: APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; BEER; BIOCHEMISTRY; CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE; CHEMISTRY; ENZYMOLOGY; INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; METALLURGY; MICROBIOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; PHYSICS; SPIRITS; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VINEGAR; WINE

We describe instruments, and cartridges therefor, for processing droplets of water in oil-in-water emulsions, the droplets containing biological entities such as cells. In one embodiment a method of such processing comprises: providing a plurality of the entities in a fluid: preparing a droplet from said fluid: determining whether said droplet contains one or more entities of said plurality of entities, or whether said droplet does not contain a said entity; sorting said droplet dependent on an outcome of said determination; and dispensing said sorted droplet into a reservoir, wherein said dispensing comprises: identifying said sorted droplet for dispensing; extracting said sorted droplet from a first fluidic flow path of said fluid by transferring said sorted droplet from said first fluidic flow path into a second fluidic flow path; and ejecting said sorted droplet from said second fluidic flow path into said reservoir by applying pressure to said second fluidic flow path. In preferred embodiments the droplet contents are tracked so that the contents of an individual droplet can be sorted, selectively dispensed, and afterwards retrieved for further processing or analysis, or for subsequent use, for example in fermenting or the like.