Acquisition of a Samplix Xdrop® Sort

The Globe Institute is part of the University of Copenhagen, and has teams that specialize in the extraction and manipulation of nucleic acids from ancient remains. In this context it holds 10 research groups that focus on this area.

We intend to acquire a Samplix Xdrop® Sort, for manipulating liquids on the microscale. This unit is programmable and multi-purpose, and can be used with a range of available chip designs to perform a wide range of biochemical reactions at the nanoscale, including microdroplet formation, encapsulation and sorting (e.g. to identify those in which libraries have been generated, microsampled encased, etc.). Thus these properties render it ideal for use in implementing nanoscale NGS library construction as we intend to do in our palaeogenetic laboratories.

The intended purpose of this equipment is to both allow the minutarisation of ancient DNA molecular biology processes (specifically conversion of microliter scale reactions to nanoliter scale) as well as the encapsulation of single pollen grains in nanoliter scale digestion buffers. To do this several components are needed, all of which are met with this equipment. Firstly there is the requirement to convert liquids into encapsulated vesicles. Secondly to introduce to these vesicles other components, such as pollen grains. Thirdly the ability to sort vesicles based on the content. Forthly this needs to be done in a sterile environment using standard components. All of these needs are met by the Xdrop Sort.

Patent Publication Number WO/2022/117547