Natural convection PCR in a disposable polymer chip

We present a standalone portable PCR apparatus which can conduct multiple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a very short time (~ 5 min). Natural convection, which is generated by thermal energy of PCR, drives PCR reactants to circulate along a closed loop channel in a polymer chip. PCR process is simply accomplished by dropping a PCR reagent onto a polymer chip, and inserting the chip into a metal slot heated to three temperatures for PCR. The construction of loop in a polymer chip is novel and suitable for disposable purpose. We report a miniaturized natural convection PCR apparatus utilizing an optimized chip. The first system using this PCR method was reported in microTAS '07 by our group. We present an improved PCR apparatus with shorter PCR time and reduced sample volume, and capable of simultaneous multiple PCR.