Patent ID: 8877141

Claim:
A microtiter plate comprising: an array of wells having multiple rows of wells and multiple columns of wells; a respective array of subwells, each having multiple rows of subwells and multiple columns of subwells, provided within each of a plurality of the wells of the array of wells; a respective reservoir provided beneath each array of subwells within a respective lower end of each well of the array of wells, wherein the reservoir is in direct fluid communication with a respective lower end of each of a plurality of the subwells of the array of subwells within each respective well; a respective elongated port provided among each of the array of subwells within each of the plurality of wells of the array of wells, each respective elongated port extending between an upper end of each well and each respective reservoir beneath the array of subwells to accommodate a liquid handling dispenser tip and to enable filling of at least a portion of each of the plurality of subwells of the array of subwells within each respective well simultaneously via the respective elongated port; wherein the cross-sectional area of the top of each subwell is greater than the cross-sectional area of the bottom of each subwell; and wherein one or more subwells each contain a bead positioned within the subwell between the top of the subwell and the bottom of the subwell.