Author Archive

Free access to May’s HOT articles

These HOT articles published in May 2015 were recommended by our referees and are free* to access for 4 weeks


High-resolution CMOS MEA platform to study neurons at subcellular, cellular, and network levels

Jan Müller, Marco Ballini, Paolo Livi, Yihui Chen, Milos Radivojevic, Amir Shadmani, Vijay Viswam, Ian L. Jones, Michele Fiscella, Roland Diggelmann, Alexander Stettler, Urs Frey, Douglas J. Bakkum and Andreas Hierlemann
Lab Chip, 2015,15, 2767-2780
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00133A



Fast size-determination of intact bacterial plasmids using nanofluidic channels

K. Frykholm, L. K. Nyberg, E. Lagerstedt, C. Noble, J. Fritzsche, N. Karami, T. Ambjörnsson, L. Sandegren and F. Westerlund
Lab Chip, 2015,15, 2739-2743
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00378D



Gecko gaskets for self-sealing and high-strength reversible bonding of microfluidics

A. Wasay and D. Sameoto
Lab Chip, 2015,15, 2749-2753
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00342C

Take a look at our Lab on a Chip Recent HOT Articles Collection!

*Access is free until 24.07.15 through a publishing personal account. It’s quick, easy and free to register

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Global Engage to host 3 exciting Congresses in October 2015

Global Engage are pleased to announce a set of 3 co-located events,  attracting over 400 attendees and more than 50 poster presentations in 2014.


October 20 – 21 2015, London UK

Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow
140 Bath Road
Hayes
UB3 5AW
United Kingdom


Microfluidic Congress

Attracting experts working in microfluidic development and application, including point-of-care diagnostics, single cell analysis, lab-on-a-chip applications, droplet microfluidics and next generation microfluidics, the conference will examine the latest developments in the technologies and techniques being used for progressing medical research in areas such as disease monitoring, diagnostics, organ-on-a-chip and synthetic biology. The challenges and possibilities of microfluidics will also be examined.

Confirmed Speakers

Agenda

More information


Synthetic Biology Congress

Designed for experts working in genome engineering, technological developments, protein design, cell building, bio-manufacturing and gene editing, the Synthetic Biology Congress will examine the latest developments in these fields in both the healthcare and plant biology sectors. New to the conference will be the addition of a third stream, focusing on Investment, Start-Ups, Strategy and Bioethics, for those looking for investment opportunities and seeking to further exploit their research.

Confirmed Speakers

Agenda

More information


qPCR & Digital PCR Congress

Bringing together over 300 industry & academic experts working in areas such as molecular biology/diagnostics, gene expression, genomics, biomarkers, pathogen detection, GMO, mRNA, NGS, bioinformatics and data management, the congress will examine the latest developments, opportunities and applications of both dPCR and qPCR through case studies across diverse areas such as oncology, virology, infectious diseases, vaccines, prenatal diagnosis, clinical applications, microbiology, food microbiology, plant/ecology genomics and other novel applications.

Confirmed Speakers

Agenda

More information

We look forward to seeing you in London!

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2014 Art In Science Competition

Every year, Lab on a Chip and the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) sponsors the Art in Science award, titled: “Under the Looking Glass: Art from the World of Small Science”. This award, presented at the annual microfluidics conference MicroTas, highlights the aesthetic value in scientific illustrations while still conveying scientific merit.

In 2014, this competitions saw its 7th year and the submissions were fantastic. A big thank you to all of our contributors!

And the 2014 Winner is…

The Sphere:

Top view of a rotating ~ 40 uL aqueous droplet, suspended at the interface between two fluids inside a square curvette. The droplet contains an assay of functionalized latex beads, agglutinating in the presence of human C-reactive protein. Photographed by David Castro and David Conchouso.

And the runner ups are…

Wicking Glass Channels:


Streams of two aqueous dyes interlace at the junction of two channels on soda-lime glass. The cracked glass morphology promotes rapid wicking and mixing of the liquids.Photographed by Manuel Ochoa.

Acoustic Streaming Effects:

By acoustically oscillating the triangular, solid sharp-edges inside microfluidic channel with a piezoelectric transducer, acoustic streaming patterns can be developed around the tips of the triangular, solid sharp edges. Photographed by Po-Hsun Huang.

Highly Porous Polymer Bead:

A highly porous polymer bead generated from High Internal Phase Emulsion. This bead (D=200µm) was synthesized inside a droplet-based microfluidic device and cross-linked under UV irradiation. These beads cna be used for a range of applications, including tissue engineering, 3D cell culture, biocatalysis and enzyme storage. Photographed by Florian Lapieere.

You can read more about the art in science of MicroTAS in Darwin Reyes-Hernandez’s (NIST) Editorial.

The Eight Annual Art in Science Award coming soon!

http://www.microtas2015.org/

We hope that these images have inspired you to get creative!

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Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lecture 2015

Lab on a Chip will again join forces with Corning Incorporated to award the ninth ‘Pioneers of Miniaturisation’ Lectureship at µTAS, including a certificate of recognition and a prize of $5000.

Miniaturisation plays a significant role in our daily lives; devices are becoming smaller and smaller, and this trend is set to continue. Current micro and nano fluidic research encompasses many scientific developments and technologies that will increase our understanding of phenomena at the micro and nano scale and potentially have a huge positive impact on our lives in the future. The use of micro and nano fluidic technologies will impact on a diverse range of industries ranging from their use in motor cars, through health improvement applications and to their use in protecting national and environmental security needs.

Nomination Deadline: 10th July 2015

At Lab on a Chip, we strongly believe in this technology and have been willing to show the necessary commitment and financial support to back the development of this research community. It is in this vein we present this award to honour and support the up and coming, next generation pioneers in this field of endeavour. This years lectureship will be presented at the µTAS 2015 Conference in Gyeongju, Korea.

Who should you nominate?

  • Early to mid-career scientists.
  • Scientists who have demonstrated extraordinary or outstanding contributions to the understanding or development of miniaturised systems. This will be judged mainly through their top 1-3 papers and/or an invention documented by patents/or a commercial product. Awards and honorary memberships may also be considered. The awardee is required to give a short lecture at the µTAS Conference in the same year.

Who has won the Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship in the past?

  • The 2014 Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship was awarded to Sangeeta Bhatia, MIT.
  • Further information  on past winners can be found on our webpage.

How do I nominate?

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Free access to March’s HOT Articles

These HOT articles published in March 2015 were recommended by our referees and are free* to access for 4 weeks


Electromechanical cell lysis using a portable audio device: enabling challenging sample preparation at the point-of-care

J. R. Buser, A. Wollen, E. K. Heiniger, S. A. Byrnes, P. C. Kauffman, P. D. Ladd and P. Yager
Lab Chip, 2015,15, 1994-1997
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00080G, Technical Innovation


Implementation of in situ SAXS/WAXS characterization into silicon/glass microreactors

Thomas Beuvier, Elvia Anabela Chavez Panduro, Paweł Kwaśniewski, Samuel Marre, Carole Lecoutre, Yves Garrabos, Cyril Aymonier, Brice Calvignac and Alain Gibaud

Lab Chip, 2015,15, 2002-2008
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00115C, Paper

Reconfigurable microfluidic systems with reversible seals compatible with 2D and 3D surfaces of arbitrary chemical composition

Abhiteja Konda, Jay M. Taylor, Michael A. Stoller and Stephen A. Morin
Lab Chip, 2015, 15, 2009-2017
DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00026B, Paper

Take a look at our Lab on a Chip 2015 HOT Articles Collection!

*Access is free until 31.05.15 through a publishing personal account. It’s quick, easy and free to register!




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Lab on a Chip gives prestigious awards at µTAS 2014

The μTAS conference 2014 was held in October, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.

As in previous years, Harp Minhas, Editor of Lab on a Chip, was in attendance at the conference to announce the prestigious Lab on a Chip awards, which include the Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship (supported by Corning Inc), the Widmer Young Researcher Poster Prize, and the Art in Science Award (co-sponsored by NIST).

New to 2014: The μTAS Video Competition, created in partnership with Dolomite Microfluidics and supported by the CBMS (the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society) was awarded for the first time at this years conference!

Art in Science Award

The Art in Science Award is given each year “to draw attention to the aesthetic value in scientific illustrations while still conveying scientific merit.” This year’s award was presented to David Castro and research group form the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. More information on the winning photograph can be found on our competition blog.

Left to Right: Darwin Reyes (NIST) Shilpa Sivashankar (KAUST) Harpal Minhas (LOC) and Albert Folch (University of Washington)

Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship

The Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship recognises early-mid career scientists who demonstrate outstanding achievements and significant contributions to the understanding and advancement of micro- and nano-scale science. This year, the Lectureship was awarded to Sangeeta Bhatia, Massachusetts Institutes of Technology.  Dr Bhatia received a certificate$5000 and gave a short lecture at the conference. You can find out more about Dr Bhatia on our winners blog.

Left to Right: Harpal Minhas (LOC) Sangeeta Bhatia (winner) and Ed Fewkes (Corning Inc.)

Video Competitions

New to 2014 and created in partnership with Dolomite Microfluidics and supported by the CBMS (the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society) the video competiton was awarded to Tijmen Hageman and colleagues. Prior to the conference, μTAS participants were invited to submit short, scientifically or educationally focused videos. The winning group, a collaboration of researchers from the University of Twente and the Korean Institute of Science and Technology produced a video demonstrating that bacteria can be manipulated by a magnetic field by using magnets to teach bacteria to line dance. The full video can be viewed on our competition blog.

Left to Right: Harpal Minhas (LOC) Tijmen Hageman (winner) and Omar Jina (Dolomite Microfluidics)

Please join us at Lab on a Chip in congratulating all of our prize winners! We look forward to seeing you at μTAS 2015 in Gyeongju, Korea.

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MicroTAS 2014 abstracts are available!

Lab on a Chip presents uTAS Abstracts 2003 to 2014:

The page link below gives the lab on a chip/microfluidics/μTAS communities free access to both current and archived content submitted to the μTAS conferences in the form of extended abstracts. This service will support workers in finding essential references and hence increase knowledge of past work in the field and assist with current and future research.

Abstracts are available through the following link: http://rsc.li/1eYWXQs

This archive includes abstracts presented at uTAS meetings from 2003 to present and essentially provides easy web access to the abstract discs supplied at the uTAS meetings.

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November’s Free HOT Articles

These HOT articles, published in Novemeber 2014 were recommended by our referees and are free* to access for 4 weeks

From cellular lysis to microarray detection, an integrated thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) point of care Lab on a Disc
Emmanuel Roy, Gale Stewart, Maxence Mounier, Lidija Malic, Régis Peytavi, Liviu Clime, Marc Madou, Maurice Bossinot, Michel G. Bergeron and Teodor Veres
Lab Chip, 2015,15, 406-416
DOI: 10.1039/C4LC00947A, Paper

Inkjet-printed microelectrodes on PDMS as biosensors for functionalized microfluidic systems
Jianwei Wu, Ridong Wang, Haixia Yu, Guijun Li, Kexin Xu, Norman C. Tien, Robert C. Roberts and Dachao Li
Lab Chip, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4LC01121J, Paper


Electrochemical pesticide detection with AutoDip – a portable platform for automation of crude sample analyses
Lisa Drechsel, Martin Schulz, Felix von Stetten, Carmen Moldovan, Roland Zengerle and Nils Paust
Lab Chip, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4LC01214C, Paper


Take a look at our Lab on a Chip 2014 HOT Articles Collection!

*Access is free until 23.01.15 through a publishing personal account. It’s quick, easy and free to register!

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A new challenge for children: getting rid of pathogens from water using microfluidics

The use of microfluidics to test the safety of drinking water is growing increasingly. Although several microfluidic concepts are already shown to detect pathogens in water useful for this industry, the authors of this article focus on the use of such a device for a different audience: young children.  They show that it can be perfectly used as an educational tool to make children more aware of the importance of clean water and the advantages of microfluidics.

In total six modules are developed, each of them having own teaching objectives and materials. The modules can be used separately and both standardized techniques as well as new microfluidic techniques are treated. For instance the use of the microfluidic separation technique deterministic lateral displacement to separate pathogens out of the water is visualized on a macroscale using LEGO® and particles made with FIMO® clay. The good particles are smaller in diameter than the bad ones, making separation in on macroscale using viscous media (in this case shower gel) possible.

A complete activity is made by the authors, that shows a new and original approach to make young children aware of the challenges in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. By using simple components in combination with cartoons and descriptions, the child can remove the bad pathogens from drinking water in about 30 minutes.

For more information, download the full article now – access is free* for a limited time only!

Angry Pathogens, how to get rid of them: introducing microfluidics for waterborne pathogen separation to children
Melanie Jimenez and Helen L.Bridle
DOI: 10.1039/C4LC0944D

* Access is free through a registered RSC account until 23rd January 2015.

About the webwriter

Dr Loes Segerink is an Assistant Professor in the BIOS Lab-on-a-Chip Group at the University of Twente. Read more about her research interests on her homepage.

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Shrinking Lab-on-a-Chip to Lab-in-a-Tube

Throughout a series of Lab on a Chip Focus Articles Samuel Sánchez, research group leader at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and recently elected as “innovator of the year 2014”, will be highlighting cutting-edge reports based on miniaturized devices that bridge functional materials and bio-related applications. And first up we have…Lab-in-a-Tube!

Lab-on-a-chip already scales down several components and integrates them into one device, but now scientists are working toward shrinking this further to develop entire laboratories inside an ultra-compact architecture such as a small tube. Samuel discusses the concept and advantages of the lab-in-a-tube before highlighting remarkable cell studies that have already been performed using microtubes.

Lab-in-a-tube systems can combine several functionalities such as optical or electrochemical sensing and is therefore used in various detection systems. Samuel describes the developments in this area, leading to the fabrication of a highly sensitive rolled-up optofluidic ring resonator – fully integrated into lab-on-a-chip devices of course!

Label-free detection systems using the lab-in-a-tube concept

Finally, Samuel discusses the challenges of controlling fluid flow at the micro scale and the use of self-powered on-chip micropumps. As one of Samuel’s main interests, catalytic micropumps will be discussed further in an upcoming Focus Article.

Samuel’s full article ‘Lab-in-a-tube systems as ultra-compact devices’ can be downloaded for free* on our website. We hope you enjoy reading his summary of recent advances in this new and exciting concept of chip integration.

Don’t miss Samuel’s next focus article – register for our e-alerts now!

*Access is free through a publishing personal account. It’s quick, easy and free to register.

More about Samuel Sánchez

Samuel earned his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2008. After a short period as an Assistant Professor, he worked in Japan at the National Institute for Materials Science. In 2010 he moved to the Institute for Integrative Nanoscience at the Leibniz Institute in Dresden where he was leading the “Biochemical Nanomembranes” group. He is now leading the independent research group at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. Samuel has received several awards for his work including the Guinness World Record® for “The smallest man-made jet engine” in 2010, the IIN-IFW Research Prize 2011, the ERC-Starting Grant 2012 “Lab-in-a-tube and Nanorobotic Biosensors (LT-NRBS).” Recently, Samuel has been named as Spain’s top innovators under 35 by the Spanish edition of the journal MIT Technology Review.

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