Bioarray chip reaction apparatus and its manufacture

Abstract

A body 300 having a cavity 310 for mounting a substrate 120 fabricated with probe sequences at known locations according to the methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,854 and PCT WO 92/10092 or others, is provided. The cavity includes inlets 350 and 360 for introducing selected fluids into the cavity to contact the probes. Accordingly, a commercially feasible device for use in high throughput assay systems is provided.

1 - 92 . (canceled)  
     
     
         93 . A holder for a transparent slide having front and rear surfaces, and carrying moieties on at least a portion of the rear surface which is opposite a first portion on the front surface, comprising: (a) a backer member, (b) front and rear clamp sets which can be moved apart to receive the slide therebetween in an enclosed an protected environment on the holder, and which are urged against the enclosed and protected slide out of contact with the moieties and the first portion of the front surface to retain the slide with the moieties facing, and spaced apart from, the backer member.  
     
     
         94 . A holder according to  claim 93 , wherein the clamp members are positioned such that the holder can receive and retain a slide having an area of no more than 200 cm.sup.2.  
     
     
         95 . A holder according to  claim 94 , wherein the moieties on the rear side of the retained slide are spaced from the backer member by between 0.1 mm to 10 mm.  
     
     
         96 . A holder according to  claim 93 , wherein the holder is rectangular in shape with a maximum area of a side of no more than 100 cm.sup.2.  
     
     
         97 . A holder according to  claim 95 , wherein the clamp members are resiliently urged against the enclosed and protected slide.  
     
     
         98 . A holder according to  claim 96 , wherein the clamp members are urged against the slide front and rear surfaces adjacent a periphery of the slide.  
     
     
         99 . A holder according to  claim 96 , wherein the backer is opaque.  
     
     
         100 . A holder according to  claim 93 , additionally comprising a body having a channel, wherein the backer member comprises a bottom surface of the channel.  
     
     
         101 . A holder for a transparent slide having front and rear surfaces, and carrying moieties on at least a portion of one of the surfaces which is opposite a first portion on the other of the surfaces, comprising: (a) a body having side portions and a channel intermediate the side portions and extending in a direction between ends of the body; (b) front and rear clamp member sets with members disposed about the channel, one set of which is fixed to the body side portions while the other set is movable to an open position away from the fixed set so as to receive the slide between the sets and urge the enclosed and protected slide against the fixed set to retain the slide between the sets, wherein both clamp sets are out of contact with the moieties and the first portion of the enclosed and protected slide.  
     
     
         102 . A holder according to  claim 101 , additionally comprising two spaced apart guides extending from the body adjacent respective sides of the channel so as to guide the sliding of the slide into the enclosed and protected environment while allowing a user's fingers to grasp opposite sides of the enclosed and protected slide at a position between the guides.  
     
     
         103 . A holder for a transparent slide having front and rear surfaces, and carrying moieties on at least a portion of the rear surface which is opposite a first portion on the front surface, comprising:. (a) a body having side portions and a channel intermediate the side portions and extending in a direction between ends of the body; (b) front and rear clamp member sets with members disposed about the channel, one set of which is fixed to the body side portions while the other set is movable to an open position away from the fixed set so as to receive the slide between the sets and urge the enclosed and protected slide against the fixed set to retain the slide between the sets with the rear surface facing, and spaced apart from, a bottom surface of the channel, wherein both clamp sets are out of contact with the moieties and the first portion of the enclosed and protected slide.  
     
     
         104 . A holder according to  claim 103 , wherein the clamp sets are resiliently urged toward one another.  
     
     
         105 . A holder according to  claim 103  additionally comprising a control member set positioned on the holder outside the channel and connected to move the movable clamp set to the open position.  
     
     
         106 . A holder according to  claim 105 , wherein the control member set is on a front side of the holder.  
     
     
         107 . A holder according to  claim 106 , wherein the front clamp member set is fixed to the body side portions and the rear clamp member set is movable.  
     
     
         108 . A holder according to  claim 107 , wherein rearward movement of the control member moves the rear clamp member set to the open position.  
     
     
         109 . A holder according to  claim 103 , wherein members of each of the front and rear clamp member sets are disposed on opposite sides of the channel such that when the sets are in the open position the slide can be slid in an endways direction of the channel between the members and into the enclosed and protected position.  
     
     
         110 . A holder according to  claim 109 , additionally comprising two spaced apart guides extending from the body adjacent respective sides of the channel so as to guide the sliding of the slide into the enclosed and protected environment while allowing a users fingers to grasp opposite sides of the enclosed and protected slide at a position between the guides.  
     
     
         111 . A holder according to  claim 110 , wherein the channel is no wider than 10 cm.  
     
     
         112 . A transparent slide having opposed front and rear surfaces, the slide carrying an array of biopolymers on a rear surface and an identification code on a front surface.  
     
     
         113 . A transparent slide according to  claim 112 , wherein the identification code is carried on an opaque medium attached to the front surface.  
     
     
         114 . A method comprising reading the array through the front side and reading the identification code from the front side.  
     
     
         115 . A method according to  claim 114 , wherein the identification code is a bar code.