Patent ID: 8029733

Claim:
A thermal cycler comprising: a) a vessel for heating and optically interrogating a reaction mixture contained in the vessel, the vessel having a chamber defined by two opposing major walls and a plurality of minor walls joining the major walls to each other, at least two of the minor walls being light transmissive to provide optical windows to the chamber; b) at least one heating surface for contacting at least one of the major walls; c) at least one cooling source arranged to cool the reaction mixture, wherein the at least one heating surface and the at least one cooling source are operable to subject the reaction mixture to temperature cycles; and d) optics positioned to optically interrogate the contents of the chamber while the at least one heating surface is in contact with at least one of the major walls, wherein the optics comprise at least one light source for transmitting light to the chamber through a first one of the light transmissive walls and at least one detector for detecting light exiting the chamber through a second one of the light transmissive walls.