GEL BEADS IN MICROFLUIDIC DROPLETS

摘要

This invention relates to the use of gel beads in microfluidic droplets to perform multi-step compartmentalised reactions in vitro. Methods may comprise emulsifying an aqueous reporter solution which comprises polynucleotides, a reporter substrate, and a gel-forming agent into microdroplets. Each polynucleotide encodes a product which converts the reporter substrate into a detectable reporter in the microdroplets. The gel-forming agent is then solidified within the microdroplets to produce gel beads comprising both the polynucleotide and the detectable reporter produced by the product. The aqueous microdroplets are then de-emulsified and re-suspended in aqueous detection solution and the reporter detected in one or more beads the population. These methods allow high throughput and are particularly useful for biochemical processes such as high-throughput screening, directed evolution and genotyping methods.