MICHAEL SAYERS BEng
PhD Research Postgraduate (2004-2007)

e: michael.sayers@ul.ie

t: +353-61-213103

Michael Sayers graduated with a first class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Limerick in 2004. Michael completed industrial experience in DeBeers Industrial Diamond where he worked on the processing of polycrystalline diamond used primarily for the bulk of gas and oil drilling. As diamond is one of the hardest material in the world, novel processing techniques had to be used such as electric discharge machining. Material testing also formed an integral part of the work, where the performance of different grades of polycrystalline diamond and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride was assessed over a range of conditions. Michael was awarded an IRESET postgraduate scholarship and commenced research in 2004. His primary research interests include optical monitoring of the PCR reaction, microfluidic design and heat transfer

PhD Project Title: Novel Optical Detection of the PCR reaction for the Detection of Rare Cell Carcinoma in a micro Total Analysis System

Gene expression can be monitored using real time reverse transcription PCR which simply means monitoring the quantity of the target gene in the PCR as the reaction progresses. Optical techniques, primarily the detection of fluorescence, are used to determine the presence of genetic abnormalities and to quantify these abnormalities, which will allow for the determination of the cancer type. Monitoring can be achieved by examining the fluorescence intensity of the PCR sample after each cycle of the PCR process. Development of a PCR thermal cycler which allows for the optical monitoring of the PCR reaction every two cycles is currently taking place. This research aims to investigate the possibility of DNA quantification, through fluorescence detection of many microlitre PCR reactors simultaneously.

The images shown below demonstrate the substantial increase in fluorescence intensity levels between a sample before PCR on the left and an amplified sample after PCR on the right.