The 2nd Korea – EU Workshop on Microfluidic Technology for Chemical, Biological and Medical Applications will be held later this year at KIST Europe.
The purpose of this international workshop is to bring together researchers, technologists, entrepreneurs and funding bodies to interact in the multidisciplinary field of “Lab on Chip”, specifically aimed at biological and medical applications. All speakers are by invitation only. Ample opportunity for informal talks will also be provided, as delegates will stay at a centralised venue, and contributed posters can be presented. This workshop will focus on the following leading areas of “Lab on Chip” for bio applications:
http://www.kist-europe.com/Conferences/LOC.html
The striking image on the 
Quantitative and sensitive detection of rare mutations using droplet-based microfluidics
This Communication from Nathan B. Crane (University of South Florida) et al. describes new method of droplet transport, combining diode-like conduction and electrowetting on dielectric to achieve continuous electrowetting with a single electrode.
In their paper Seok Chung (Korea University) et al. have developed a hydrogel incorporating a microfluidic platform which can mimic the 3D tissue microenvironment for the study of endothelial cell sprouting angiogenesis. They are able to precisely control the gradient of soluble angiogenic factors, VEGF and ANG-1 and obtain a quantitative response to the assay.
William C. Messner (Carnegie Mellon University) and colleagues have also been working in 3D to achieve dynamic control of 3D chemical patterns in a single 2D microfluidic platform. They are able to switch between ‘focused’ and ‘defocused’ 3D flow profiles, and to rapidly tune the patterns through feedback control of the inlet pressures.
The recent LOC article from Henry Zeringue (University of Pittsburgh) and team has been highlighted on 
Manipulating cells in microfluidic chips is often accomplished with a magnetically driven microtool (MMT), driven by a permanent magnet. However MMTs driven by permanent magnets suffer from low positioning accuracy and response speed. Here, Masaya Hagiwara (
Over the last decade, the molecular complexity of drugs has increased significantly, leading to poor solubility, which means that the compounds can’t be used in the human body. To determine if new formulations have potential as successful drugs, solubility tests are run at an early stage of development. However, the amount of drug available for these tests is usually very small.
