Digital Droplet PCR - Grace Hao

My current project involves digital droplet PCR, which is a lab on a chip. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a process to amplify target DNA to millions of copies through thermocycling. I’ve done PCR in the past, but it’s been so tedious and long.The entire goal of digital droplet PCR is to not only shorten the time it takes to conduct PCR, which can be hours at times, but also to amplify a limited quantity of starting DNA. This is a lab on a chip project, and I’m continuing the work of two past Johns Hopkins IMEC interns (Rachel and Polly) and a Master’s student from KU Leuven.

My project is a bit farther along, and I get to be part of the refining of the assay to optimize the process. So far, I’ve been trained on how to use the current set up left to me from previous students and how to make the optimized assay. It’s really awesome that the concepts I’ve learned in various classes like Biomaterials, Kinetics, and lab has been put to use in this project because in class it seems like theory. However, at IMEC they’re using materials science to change how we use PCR.