Microfabricated 384-Lane Capillary Array Electrophoresis Bioanalyzer for Ultrahigh-Throughput Genetic Analysis

A microfabricated 384-lane capillary array electrophoresis device is developed and utilized for massively parallel genetic analysis. The 384 capillary lanes, arrayed radially about the center of a 200-mm-diameter glass substrate sandwich, are constructed using scalable microfabrication techniques derived from the semiconductor industry. Samples are loaded into reservoirs on the perimeter of the wafer, separated on the 8-cm-long poly(dimethylacrylamide) gel-filled channels, and detected with a four-color rotary confocal fluorescence scanner. The performance and throughput of this bioanalyzer are demonstrated by simultaneous genotyping 384 individuals for the common hemochromatosis-linked H63D mutation in the human HFE gene in only 325 s. This lab-on-a-chip device thoroughly exploits the power of microfabrication to produce high-density capillary electrophoresis arrays and to use them for high-throughput bioanalysis.