Design and testing of the thermal properties of the structure of an ultra high-throughput mutational spectrometer

A process known as mutational spectrometry allows the detection of both single and multiple mutations that appear to be spontaneous, using a technique known as constant denaturing capillary electrophoresis (CDCE). CDCE requires a region of constant temperature and concentration of denaturant. A massively parallel, fully automated instrument, capable of handling as many as 10,000 DNA samples simultaneously, is suited to this technique. A modular structure of such a mutational spectrometer was designed to remain water-tight, provide an array to hold the capillaries for electrophoretic excitation, and modulate the flow of a heat transfer fluid. Six such modules were manufactured and assembled. As the heat transfer fluid passed through the assembled structure, the natural thermal loss was determined.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Del Zio, Michael R. (Michael Robert), 1982-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ian W. Hunter.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32822

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32822