Patent ID: 7914739

Claim:
A system for continuously synthesizing molecules, comprising: (a) a stage comprising at least a first reaction site and a second reaction site in a fixed order and at a first fixed distance from one another, (b) at least a first dispensing station and a second dispensing station configured to deliver reagents to said reaction sites to start reactions, wherein said dispensing stations are located along said stage at second fixed distances from one other, wherein the first and second fixed distances are different from one another and correlate with the order and incubation times of the reactions; (c) a control system programmed to determine with respect to the molecules being synthesized, the proper reagents to dispense within each reaction site, and to coordinate movement of the stage with the position of the first and second dispensing stations, wherein the control system is configured to operatively communicate with said dispensing stations to sequentially dispense said reagents into said reaction sites on a predetermined schedule so that a first reaction in a reaction site is completed before a second reaction in said reaction site is initiated and wherein said first and second distances and said schedule correlate to the order and the duration of steps required to complete said first and second reactions; and (d) a quality control module programmed to determine that the first reaction site did not receive the reagents from said dispensing stations and wherein the quality control module is configured to operatively communicate with the control system to discontinue delivery of reagents to the first reaction site while continuing delivery of regents to the second reaction site; (e) at least one imaging station configured to obtain at least one image of at least said first reaction site and operatively communicate with said quality control module.