ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,685,977, issued on July 21, was assigned to Life Technologies Corp. (Carlsbad, Calif.).

"Powder hydration systems with mixing apparatus and methods of use" was invented by Nephi Jones (Newton, Utah), Tony Hsiao (Providence, Utah) and Mason Smith (Carlsbad, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A powder mixing system (12) includes a conduit (40) having a first end and an opposing second end, the conduit bounding a passage; a fluid pump (80) fluid coupled with the conduit, the fluid pump being configured to pump a liquid through the passage of the conduit; and a tubular transfer member (190) in fluid communication with the conduit, the tra...