Patents by Inventor Nicole A. Leal

Nicole A. Leal has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11117922
    Abstract: This invention claims processes that append a single nucleotide having a 3?-ONH2 moiety to the 3?-ends of an oligonucleotide primer using 3?-deoxynucleoside triphosphates that have, instead of a 3?-OH moiety, a 3?-ONH2 moiety, where the nucleotides contain both standard and non-standard nucleobases, and where as a key claim limitation, substantially no hydroxylamine is present in the solutions used in the claimed processes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Inventors: Nicole A Leal, Steven A Benner
  • Publication number: 20210238643
    Abstract: This invention relates to nucleotide analogs and their derivatives (termed non-standard nucleotides) that, when incorporated into DNA and RNA, expand the number of nucleotides beyond the four found in standard DNA and RNA. The invention further relates to enzymatic processes that incorporate those non-standard nucleotide analogs into oligonucleotide products using the corresponding triphosphate derivatives. The RNA polymerases of the instant invention transcribe DNA containing nonstandard nucleotides to give RNA containing nonstandard nucleotides, where certain of those nucleotides have nucleobases that do not present electron density to the minor groove.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Inventors: Nicole A Leal, Steven A Benner
  • Patent number: 10934569
    Abstract: This invention relates to processes that transcribe DNA molecules containing non-standard nucleotides using variants of T7 RNA polymerase to give RNA transcripts that contain their complementary non-standard nucleotides. Non-standard nucleotides pair during transcription using patterns of hydrogen bonding that are different from patterns that join the thymine-adenine and guanine-cytosine nucleobase pairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Inventors: Nicole A Leal, Steven A Benner
  • Patent number: 10829812
    Abstract: This invention relates to processes that amplify oligonucleotide analogs that incorporate non-standard nucleobase analogs from an artificially expanded genetic information system. These pair in DNA duplexes via patterns of hydrogen bonds that differ from patterns that join the thymine-adenine and guanine-cytosine nucleobase pairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Inventors: Steven A Benner, Roberto Laos, Nicole A Leal, Zunyi Yang, Myong Jung Kim
  • Patent number: 10654841
    Abstract: This invention claims processes that comprise the appending of nucleotides having a 3?-ONH2 moiety to the 3?-ends of oligonucleotide primers using 3?-deoxynucleoside triphosphates of 2?-deoxynucleoside derivatives that have, instead of a 3?-OH moiety, a 3?-ONH2 moiety, where the nucleotides contain non-standard nucleobases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Inventors: Steven A Benner, Nicole A Leal
  • Patent number: 10370706
    Abstract: This invention covers a new molecular recognition system, where duplexes of DNA-like molecules comprise segments built from nucleotides that carry only a small pyrimidine-like analog, and where the segments pair by pyrimidine analog:pyrimidine analog “skinny” pairing. This pairing retains hydrogen bonding complementarity. Further, this invention relates to processes for preparing those duplexes, and processes that use such duplexes as primer:template complexes for reactions catalyzed by DNA polymerases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Inventors: Shuichi Hoshika, Nicole A Leal, Steven A Benner
  • Patent number: 9637783
    Abstract: This invention relates to processes that amplify, in a polymerase chain reaction architecture, oligonucleotide analogs that incorporate non-standard nucleobase analogs from an artificially expanded genetic information system. These pair in DNA duplexes via patterns of hydrogen bonds that are different from patterns that join the thymine-adenine and guanine-cytosine nucleobase pairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Inventors: Steven Benner, Roberto Laos, Nicole Leal, Nilesh Karalkar, Zunyi Yang
  • Publication number: 20110319298
    Abstract: This patent application claims processes and compositions of matter that enable the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that distinguish the genomes of two individual organisms in the same species, as well as that distinguish the paternal and maternal genetic inheritance of a single individual, as well as distinguish the genomes of cells in special tissues (e.g. cancer tissues) within an individual from the genomes of the standard cells in the same individuals, as well as the SNPs that are discovered using these processes and compositions. Two steps are essential to the invention disclosed in this application. The first step provides four sets of primers, which are designated “T-extendable”, “A-extendable”, “C-extendable”, and “G-extendable”. These primers, when targeted against a reference genome as a template, add (respectively) T, A, C, and G to their 3?-ends in a template-directed primer extension reaction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2009
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Inventors: Steven A. Benner, Shuichi Hoshika, Nicole Leal
  • Publication number: 20110117554
    Abstract: Specific sequences of DNA are often detected by a process that comprises a step where the sequence to be detected (the “analyte”) binds to give a duplex with a DNA molecule or analog that is complementary in the Watson-Crick sense to some portion of the analyte in an aqueous “assay environment” that may contain buffer, salt, and/or detergent. Such purely aqueous systems cannot be exposed indefinitely to the environment, however, as the water in the system will evaporate. Further, such systems often support the growth of bacteria and other organisms, destroying their effectiveness. This invention provides for compositions of matter and processes that use them that comprise assay mixtures containing more than 40% formamide. This mixture remains a liquid at equilibrium with water in environments normally inhabited by humans. This invention also provides for mixtures containing formamides that include detergents.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2010
    Publication date: May 19, 2011
    Inventors: Steven Albert Benner, Daniel Hutter, Nicole A. Leal