title: The rotary zone thermal cycler: a low-power system enabling automated rapid PCR.
abstract: Advances in molecular biology, microfluidics, and laboratory automation continue to expand the accessibility and applicability of these methods beyond the confines of conventional, centralized laboratory facilities and into point of use roles in clinical, military, forensic, and field-deployed applications. As a result, there is a growing need to adapt the unit operations of molecular biology (e.g., aliquoting, centrifuging, mixing, and thermal cycling) to compact, portable, low-power, and automation-ready formats. Here we present one such adaptation, the rotary zone thermal cycler (RZTC), a novel wheel-based device capable of cycling up to four different fixed-temperature blocks into contact with a stationary 4-microliter capillary-bound sample to realize 1-3 second transitions with steady state heater power of less than 10 W. We demonstrate the utility of the RZTC for DNA amplification as part of a highly integrated rotary zone PCR (rzPCR) system that uses low-volume valves and syringe-based fluid handling to automate sample loading and unloading, thermal cycling, and between-run cleaning functionalities in a compact, modular form factor. In addition to characterizing the performance of the RZTC and the efficacy of different online cleaning protocols, we present preliminary results for rapid single-plex PCR, multiplex short tandem repeat (STR) amplification, and second strand cDNA synthesis.
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bartsch
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Harrison S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Caroline E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Moseley
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Tew
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ronald F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Renzi
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Van de Vreugde
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hanyoup
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: SequoiaTek Corporation, Logan, UT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Anupama
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Steven S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Branda
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kamlesh D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Patel
mesh_terms: D057205:Automation, Laboratory; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
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