Applied Biosystems and Eagle Research Will Work on Single Molecule Detection Device

Applied Biosystems and Eagle Research and Development will further develop a single molecule detection device invented by Eagle according to recent agreement between the two firms. As part of the agreement, Applied Biosystems has received an exclusive two-year option to license the technology.

Eagle’s patented technology, currently in prototype stage, identifies and quantifies molecules based on their unique electronic charge signatures. Applied Biosystems believes the technology could have significant implications for advancing personalized medicine based on its potential for faster, more efficient, and less expensive protein and nucleic acid identification, protein-protein and protein-small molecule interaction measurements, and DNA sequencing.

The miniature silicon device constructed by Eagle consists of an array of nanopores, with each nanopore containing embedded semiconductors or field-effect transistors (FETs). As single molecules are driven through a nanopore by a voltage differential, the 3-D charge profile of a molecule is measured by the FETs, enabling each molecule in the sample to be uniquely identified and precisely quantified.

Applied Biosystems intends to focus initial development support and feasibility testing for applications in protein identification and detection of protein-binding events. Provided the ability to electronically profile the individual four nucleotides in DNA is further developed, Applied Biosystems believes the Eagle technology could potentially be the first to enable the identification and measurement of both DNA and proteins in a single sample at the same time.