Patent ID: 6586176
Filing Date: 2003-07-01
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
A method of nucleic acid analysis, comprisingforming a population of gel microdrops encapsulating a population of biological entities, each entity comprising a nucleic acid, whereby at least some microdrops in the population each encapsulate a single entity; crosslinking hydroxyl groups in the agarose of the microdrops with each other and with hydroxyl groups in the nucleic acids encapsulated in the microdrops; contacting the population of gel microdrops with a probe under conditions whereby the probe specifically hybridizes to at least one complementary sequence in the nucleic acid in at least one gel microdrop; analyzing the nucleic acid encapsulated with the microdrop by isolating or detecting the at least one gel microdrop; wherein the cross-linking is reversible without damage to the nucleic acids encapsulated in the microdrops.