Abstract: Data storage is provided using double-stranded nucleic acid molecules provided on a thermal control device comprising a plurality of sites and temperature control circuitry to independently control a temperature of each of the plurality of sites. The temperature control circuitry, controls the site temperatures to provide a different temperature at a target site compared to other sites of the plurality of sites. The different temperatures at the target site and the other sites provide a greater probability of a read or write operation acting on the target site compared to the other sites. The temperature-based addressing helps to increase physical storage density.

Abstract: A series of hybridisations is performed for forming a target double-stranded nucleic acid from initial fragments, where each further hybridisation step hybridises the direct products of a pair of earlier hybridisation steps. For at least one further hybridisation step HF, both of the corresponding pair of earlier hybridisation steps HE comprise an error-detecting type of hybridisation step, which includes an error detecting operation to detect whether the hybridised fragments formed in the error-detecting type of hybridisation step HE comprise at least one erroneous hybridised fragment, and discarding at least part of the erroneous fragment to exclude it from a subsequent further hybridisation step. By detecting and removing erroneous fragments throughout a staged and controlled hybridisation process, erroneous fragments are prevented from diluting the pool of error-free fragments at each hybridisation step, to improve yield.

Abstract: A temperature control device (2) comprises a number of active thermal sites (6) disposed at respective locations on a substrate (10), each comprising a heating element (13) for applying a variable amount of heat to a corresponding site of a medium and a thermal insulation layer (16) disposed between the heating element and the substrate. At least one passive thermal region (8) is disposed between the active thermal sites (6) on the substrate (10), each passive thermal region (8) comprising a thermal conduction layer (18) for conducting heat from a corresponding portion of the medium to the substrate (10). The thermal conduction layer (18) has a lower thermal resistance in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the substrate (10) than the thermal insulation layer (16). This enables precise control over both heating and cooling of individual sites in a flowing fluid, for example.

Abstract: A technique for measuring the resistance of a resistive element 4 in the presence of a series diode is provided. By supplying three different currents I1, I2, I3 and measuring corresponding voltages V1, V2, V3 across the resistive element and diode, the voltages can be combined to at least partially eliminate an error in the measured resistance of the resistive element caused by a voltage drop across the diode. A technique for current control in an array of resistive elements is also described in which a column of resistive elements is provided with two or more current sources switched so that while one current source is providing current to the column line corresponding to a selected resistive element, another current source has its amount of current adjusted.

Abstract: The present invention relates to chemical linkers and protecting groups, compounds and compositions containing the chemical linkers or protecting groups, and intermediates and processes that can be used to prepare them. The chemical linkers and protecting groups are based on pyrrolidine and piperidine activating groups, which undergo intramolecular cyclisation upon heating with release of carbon dioxide, thereby releasing the organic compound from a substrate. In particular, those chemical linkers and protecting groups are useful in the solid phase synthesis of oligonucleotides according to the following representative schemes.

Abstract: A method of creating a mask on a surface of a substrate is disclosed. The substrate comprises a plurality of spaced heating elements on or proximal to the surface. The method comprises applying a layer of masking material to the surface and employing the heating elements to apply energy to a phase change in the masking material at the selected sites such that it adheres to the surface or can be displaced from the surface to mask or unmask the selected sites respectively. A method of synthesising an array of molecules, an apparatus for selectively masking one or more sites on a surface and a semi-conductor chip that uses micro-heaters to modulate a masking layer on areas of the chip surface.