Advanced Liquid Logic, a microfluidics “lab-on-a-chip” spinout from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, announced today it has acquired Nanolytics Inc. Terms were not disclosed. Advanced Liquid Logic, founded in 2004, is developing a new technology for handling microliquid, called digital microfluidics, that it said will enable small droplets to be moved under direct, programmable, software control to perform complex, liquid-based testing in a palmtop-sized device. Nanolytics was founded in the late 1990s. An early Nanolytics employee, Michael Pollack, left Nanolytics to further develop the technology at Duke University, then went on to co-found Advanced Liquid Logic in 2004. Advanced Liquid Logic currently employs about 20 workers. Nanolytics had just two employees. Advanced Liquid Logic's primary focus is to develop products for medical diagnostics and monitoring. It has demonstrated clinical chemistry assays, immunoassays and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) on the technology platform and is in the process of implementing DNA sequencing, analyte sorting, test multiplexing and integrated sample preparation. The company said it will launch its first commercial product in late 2007. Richard West, CEO of Advanced Liquid Logic, said the technology has "huge potential" for miniaturizing test equipment and performing complex tests at the point of sample collection. For more information, visit: www.liquid-logic.com