US Patent 7918979 - Molecular nanofluidics

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7918979.html


This patent from Cornell has priority going back to 1999 and appears to include some basic claims to processing DNA via nanofluidic channels. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for analyzing a nucleic acid, comprising:

a) introducing a nucleic acid molecule into an apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises a chamber having at least a constricted nanofluidic channel connected thereto, wherein the nanofluidic channel is dimensioned to provide an entropic barrier to the nucleic acid;

b) applying a driving force across the nanofluidic channel to force the nucleic acid into the nanofluidic channel in an entropically unfavorable configuration; and

c) analyzing the nucleic acid.