Nanogen, Inc.
developer of molecular and point-of-care diagnostic products, announced today
that it was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,726,880, "Electronic Devices for
Performing Active Biological Operations and Method of Using Same," by the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office. The '880 patent relates to new devices that
enable increased sensitivity of active, programmable electronic matrix (APEX)
devices and perform actions such as concentration and assembly of biological
materials on a substrate.
DNA, RNA, proteins and other biologics can be electronically concentrated
at collection electrodes and then re-distributed to reaction or detection
electrodes. With alternating manipulation of the collection and reactive
electrodes, molecular nanostructures can be assembled for more sensitive
detection or used to manufacture molecular structures such as DNA hybrids or
Protein/Protein complexes. With the addition of the '880 patent, Nanogen now
has 59 issued patents in the United States.
"The '880 patent builds upon and extends our previous programmable
electronic matrix patents by describing approaches to the collection and
concentration of biological materials that can then be manipulated in an
organized manner," said Howard C. Birndorf, Nanogen chairman and chief
executive officer. "Nanogen continues to add to its intellectual property
position in order to retain the value of our novel technologies and their
potential applications."
