Micro-libraries and methods of making and manipulating them methods for generating and analyzing micro-libraries

摘要

Micro-scale methods are applied in producing, maintaining, replicating, screening, manipulating and sub-cloning cell libraries. By means of the micro-scale methods of the invention, micro-libraries of single-cells or micro-colonies arranged in a definite two-dimensional pattern are produced, propagated, replicated, screened, examined and manipulated. It is feasible to sub-clone cells and micro-colonies from the micro- libraries, particularly those identified by screening and examining the micro-libraries, for the purposes of purification and large- scale cultivation. Automated and scaleable methods can be applied to screen practically any collection of cells attached to a surface. These methodologies are useful for making and screening on a micro-scale genomic libraries, cDNA libraries, and libraries of hybridoma cells, inter alia. Similar approaches employ such methods and micro- libraries for toxicological, pharmaceutical, mutagenetic and carcinogenic screening.