Production of recombinant adeno-associated virus 5 using a novel self-attenuating adenovirus production platform.

Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) has become a prominent vector for clinical use. Despite an increase in successful clinical outcomes, the amount of high-quality rAAVs required for clinical trials and eventual commercial demand is difficult to produce, especially for genetic diseases that are prevalent or require high doses. Many groups are focused on establishing production processes that can produce sufficient rAAV while maintaining potency and quality.

Road avoidance and its energetic consequences for reptiles.

Roads are one of the most widespread human-caused habitat modifications that can increase wildlife mortality rates and alter behavior. Roads can act as barriers with variable permeability to movement and can increase distances wildlife travel to access habitats. Movement is energetically costly, and avoidance of roads could therefore impact an animal's energy budget.

Climatic and geographic predictors of life history variation in Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus): A range-wide synthesis.

Elucidating how life history traits vary geographically is important to understanding variation in population dynamics. Because many aspects of ectotherm life history are climate-dependent, geographic variation in climate is expected to have a large impact on population dynamics through effects on annual survival, body size, growth rate, age at first reproduction, size-fecundity relationship, and reproductive frequency. The Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) is a small, imperiled North American rattlesnake with a distribution centered on the Great Lakes region, where lake effects strongly influence local conditions.

The influence of landscape on gene flow in the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus c. catenatus): insight from computer simulations.

Understanding how gene flow shapes contemporary population structure requires the explicit consideration of landscape composition and configuration. New landscape genetic approaches allow us to link such heterogeneity to gene flow within and among populations. However, the attribution of cause is difficult when landscape features are spatially correlated, or when genetic patterns reflect past events.

Droplet-based pyrosequencing using digital microfluidics.

The feasibility of implementing pyrosequencing chemistry within droplets using electrowetting-based digital microfluidics is reported. An array of electrodes patterned on a printed-circuit board was used to control the formation, transportation, merging, mixing, and splitting of submicroliter-sized droplets contained within an oil-filled chamber. A three-enzyme pyrosequencing protocol was implemented in which individual droplets contained enzymes, deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs), and DNA templates.

Digital microfluidic platform for multiplexing enzyme assays: implications for lysosomal storage disease screening in newborns.

Background: Newborn screening for lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) has been gaining considerable interest owing to the availability of enzyme replacement therapies. We present a digital microfluidic platform to perform rapid, multiplexed enzymatic analysis of acid α-glucosidase (GAA) and acid α-galactosidase to screen for Pompe and Fabry disorders. The results were compared with those obtained using standard fluorometric methods.

Microfluidic platform versus conventional real-time polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in respiratory specimens.

Rapid, accurate diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae is compromised by low sensitivity of culture and serology. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has emerged as a sensitive method to detect M. pneumoniae DNA in clinical specimens.

Digital microfluidics: a future technology in the newborn screening laboratory?

Expansion of newborn screening for inherited metabolic disorders using tandem mass spectrometry has generated interest in screening for other treatable conditions, including lysosomal storage diseases. Limitations to expansion include labor and equipment costs. We describe a cost-effective new platform that reduces the time to result reporting and can perform multiplexing assays requiring different platforms.

Multiplexed real-time polymerase chain reaction on a digital microfluidic platform.

This paper details the development of a digital microfluidic platform for multiplexed real-time polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Liquid samples in discrete droplet format are programmably manipulated upon an electrode array by the use of electrowetting. Rapid PCR thermocycling is performed in a closed-loop flow-through format where for each cycle the reaction droplets are cyclically transported between different temperature zones within an oil-filled cartridge.