Abstract: A method and device are provided for detecting a target in a biological sample. The target binds to a solid phase substrate. First and second cavities in a plate are filled with an oil. The first and second cavities are in fluid communication with each other. The solid phase substrate is magnetically drawn sequentially from a drop of the biological sample in the first cavity, through the oil, into a drop of the reaction solution in the second cavity. A change in a parameter of the drop of the reaction solution indicates the presence of the target.

Abstract: A method of identifying at least one CTL-inducing epitope from HIV protein is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of (a) examining the nucleic acid sequence encoding at least one HIV protein from at least one HIV-infected patient, wherein the sequence encoding the expressed protein is examined in the first six months after infection, to identify at least one region of the HIV protein that is variable as compared to the sequence of the protein at an earlier time point in infection, wherein the variable region indicates a CTL-inducing epitope, and (b) confirming that an immune response directed against the CTL-inducing epitope is capable of selecting for viral escape variants during the acute or periacute phase of HIV infection is of high avidity.