Magnetic micro-barcodes for molecular tagging applications

T J Hayward (1) , B Hong (1) , K N Vyas (1) , J J Palfreyman (1) , J F K Cooper (1) , Z Jiang (1) , J R Jeong (2) , J Llandro (1) , T Mitrelias (1) , J a C Bland (1) , C H W Barnes (1)

1 CAM - University of Cambridge [UK]
2 Department of Materials Engineering

We describe proof-of-principle experiments and theory that demonstrate a new method of performing multiplexed biological assays by using microscopic tags which carry multi-bit magnetic codes to label probe biomolecules. It is demonstrated that these " micro-barcode tags " can be encoded, transported using micro-fluidics and are compatible with surface chemistry. We also present simulations and experimental results which suggest the feasibility of decoding the micro-barcode tags using magnetoresistive sensors. Together, these results demonstrate substantial progress towards meeting the critical requirements of a magnetically encoded, high-throughput and portable biological assay platform. We also show that an extension of our technology could be potentially used to label libraries consisting of ~10 4 distinct probe molecules, and could therefore have a strong impact on mainstream medical diagnostics.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

T J Hayward, B Hong, K N Vyas, J J Palfreyman, J F K Cooper, et al.. Magnetic micro-barcodes for molecular tagging applications. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2010, 43 (17), pp.175001. ⟨10.1088/0022-3727/43/17/175001⟩. ⟨hal-00569585⟩