Natural convection PCR in a disposable polymer chip

We present a standalone portable PCR apparatus which can conduct multiple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a very short time (~ 5 min). Natural convection, which is generated by thermal energy of PCR, drives PCR reactants to circulate along a closed loop channel in a polymer chip. PCR process is simply accomplished by dropping a PCR reagent onto a polymer chip, and inserting the chip into a metal slot heated to three temperatures for PCR. The construction of loop in a polymer chip is novel and suitable for disposable purpose. We report a miniaturized natural convection PCR apparatus utilizing an optimized chip. The first system using this PCR method was reported in microTAS ´07 by our group. We present an improved PCR apparatus with shorter PCR time and reduced sample volume, and capable of simultaneous multiple PCR.