Microfluidic gradient PCR (MG-PCR): a new method for microfluidic DNA amplification

This study develops a new microfluidic DNA amplification strategy for executing parallel DNA amplification in the microfluidic gradient polymerase chain reaction (MG-PCR) device. The developed temperature gradient microfluidic system is generated by using an innovative fin design. The device mainly consists of modular thermally conductive copper flake which is attached onto a finned aluminum heat sink with a small fan. In our microfluidic temperature gradient prototype, a non-linear temperature gradient is produced along the gradient direction. On the copper flake of length 45 mm, width 40 mm and thickness 4 mm, the temperature gradient easily spans the range from 97 to 52°C. By making full use of the hot (90–97°C) and cold (60–70°C) regions on the temperature gradient device, the parallel, two-temperature MG-PCR amplification is feasible. As a demonstration, the MG-PCR from three parallel reactions of 112-bp Escherichia coli DNA fragment is performed in a continuous-flow format, in which the flow of the PCR reagent in the closed loop is induced by the buoyancy-driven nature convection. Although the prototype is not optimized, the MG-PCR amplification can be completed in less than 45 min. However, the MG-PCR thermocycler presented herein can be further scaled-down, and thus the amplification times and reagent consumption can be further reduced. In addition, the currently developed temperature gradient technology can be applied onto other continuous-flow MG-PCR systems or used for other analytical purposes such as parallel and combination measurements, and fluorescent melting curve analysis.