Rare earth-doped glass microbarcodes
- Matthew J. Dejneka*,
- Alexander Streltsov,
- Santona Pal,
- Anthony G. Frutos,
- Christy L. Powell,
- Kevin Yost,
- Po Ki Yuen,
- Uwe Müller, and
- Joydeep Lahiri*
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Edited by George M. Whitesides, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and approved November 25, 2002 (received for review October 7, 2002)
Abstract
The development of ultraminiaturized identification tags has applications in fields ranging from advanced biotechnology to security. This paper describes micrometer-sized glass barcodes containing a pattern of different fluorescent materials that are easily identified by using a UV lamp and an optical microscope. A model DNA hybridization assay using these “microbarcodes” is described. Rare earth-doped glasses were chosen because of their narrow emission bands, high quantum efficiencies, noninterference with common fluorescent labels, and inertness to most organic and aqueous solvents. These properties and the large number (>1 million) of possible combinations of these microbarcodes make them attractive for use in multiplexed bioassays and general encoding.
Footnotes
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↵ * To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: dejnekamj{at}corning.com or lahrij{at}corning.com.
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This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
- Abbreviation:
- RE,
- rare earth
- Copyright © 2003, The National Academy of Sciences
