One Cell Systems (US) has received a $100,000 grant from the US NIH to evaluate the combined use of its gel microdrop technology and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to develop a rapid method for screening micro-organisms. The encapsulating technology, licensed to One Cell by the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is said to be well suited to automation as it is compatible with a broad spectrum of existing sample preparation and analytical technologies.
Founded in 1991, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based One Cell Systems has been financed by venture capital, research grants and development agreements with biopharmaceutical companies. Among projects funded by the NIH are assay development for HIV and TB testing