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Under a month left to submit your nominations for the Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship

03 May 2012

Pioneers of Miniaturisation 2011 winner Professor Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard-MIT, USA) with LOC Editor HArp Minhas and Po-Ki Yuen (Corning Inc).

Last year's winner Professor Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard-MIT, USA) with LOC Editor HArp Minhas and Po-Ki Yuen (Corning Inc).

There is just under a month left for you to submit your nominations for the Lab on a Chip/Corning Inc Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lecture – the deadline is 28th May 2012.

The Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lecture is awarded annually to an early to mid-career scientist for contributions to the understanding or development of miniaturised systems, so if you have an outstanding post-doc in your group or know an extraordinary Assistant Professor, put their names forward today!

The Lectureship will be jointly awarded by Lab on a Chip and Corning Incorporated at the annual µTAS Conference, to be held in Okinawa, Japan, this year and includes $5000 ($2000 of which may be used to attend µTAS).

Please see the Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lecture page for full details on how to make a nomination.

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LOC paper on a smartphone-based RDT reader platform in the press

01 May 2012

Another paper from Lab on a Chip has recently been causing a stir in the scientific press – this time from Aydogan Ozcan, from UCLA, and colleagues. The device they have designed is a reader platform for Rapid-Diagnostic-Tests (RDTs) which is utilises the imaging and processing capabilities of a smartphone to avoid manual diagnosis errors. The platform can read multiple RDTs, and the authors hope that it will help track emerging epidemics worldwide, by enabling easy sharing of results via programs such as Google Maps.

Take a look at the news stories in R&D mag, CNET and PhysOrg for interviews with Aydogan Ozcan and the UCLA website for a neat video on the research.

Integrated Rapid-Diagnostic-Test Reader Platform on a Cellphone
Onur Mudanyali, Stoyan Dimitrov, Uzair Sikora, Swati Padmanabhan, Isa Navruz and Aydogan Ozcan
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40235A

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LOC article on the capture of tumour cells featured in the press

30 Apr 2012

An article recently published in Lab on a Chip on the capture and culture of rare circulating tumour cells from Donald Ingber and Joo Kang has featured on CNET and PhysOrg. The device, which the team describes as a ‘micromagnetic-microfluidic device’ is capable of separating almost 90% of circulating tumour cells from blood by binding them to magnetic beads. Due to the design of the channels in the device, the CTCs remain viable following isolation and can be used further for culture and testing.

Read the full article here:

A combined micromagnetic-microfluidic device for rapid capture and culture of rare circulating tumor cells
Joo H. Kang, Silva Krause, Heather Tobin, Akiko Mammoto, Mathumai Kanapathipillai and Donald E. Ingber
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40072C

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LOC issue 10 available now

27 Apr 2012

Issue 10 of Lab on a Chip is now available online. This week’s front cover features the winning image from the µTAS ‘Art in Science‘ award, which was presented to Dong Jin Shin at the 15th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and the Life Sciences (µTAS) held in Seattle, Washington, USA, on October 2–6, 2011. The image is entitled ‘Ying and Yang in a Droplet’ – more information can be found in the editorial.

The art in science of microTAS
Michael Gaitan and Harp Minhas
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC90034C

The inside front cover features work from Ross Booth and Hanseup Kim at the University of Utah. They have developed a microfluidic blood-brain barrier that mimics the in vivo equivalent, using a thin culture membrane. They hope the model will give insight into blood-brain barrier studies and drug delivery methods.

Characterization of a microfluidic in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier (μBBB)
Ross Booth and Hanseup Kim
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40094D

Another HOT article included in this issue comes from Frances Ligler and colleagues at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, and introduces the “MagTrap” device that can perform automated target capture, efficient mixing with reagents, and controlled target release using 6 pairs of magnets in a rotating wheel.

Spinning magnetic trap for automated microfluidic assay systems
Jasenka Verbarg, Kian Kamgar-Parsi, Adam R. Shields, Peter B. Howell and Frances S. Ligler
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21189K

Also included in the issue are this week’s Research highlight from Dr Ali Khademhosseini and Acoustofluidics 11 by Per Augustsson and Thomas Laurell, entitled ‘Affinity specific extraction and sample decomplexing using continuous flow acoustophoresis’.

Read the rest of issue 10 here

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Gut-on-a-Chip in the New Scientist!

04 Apr 2012

The article on a ‘gut-on-a-chip’ from Editorial Board member Don Ingber and colleagues which has been causing some rumblings in the scientific press over the last couple of weeks has made it to the New Scientist. The article also recently featured as a Nature Research Highlight and is part of one of our forthcoming themed issues – watch this space!

Human gut-on-a-chip inhabited by microbial flora that experiences intestinal peristalsis-like motions and flow
Hyun Jung Kim, Dongeun Huh, Geraldine Hamilton and Donald E. Ingber
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40074J

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LOC issue 8 available now

30 Mar 2012

Issue 8 is now available online, and the front cover features a HOT communication from Sungyoung Choi, Jeffrey M. Karp and Rohit Karnik at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. The article demonstrates the group’s use of deterministic cell rolling to sort cells in a label-free, gentle manner.

Cell sorting by deterministic cell rolling
Sungyoung Choi, Jeffrey M. Karp and Rohit Karnik
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21225K

The inside front cover features a HOT paper from Chang Lu and colleagues, which outlines the group’s use of total internal reflection fluorescence flow cytometry (TIRF-FC) to quantitatively measure quantum dot uptake into cells at a single cell level.

Quantitative measurement of quantum dot uptake at the cell population level using microfluidic evanescent-wave-based flow cytometry
Jun Wang, Yihong Zhan, Ning Bao and Chang Lu
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21298F

Other HOT papers in the issue include:

Microfluidics meets soft layer-by-layer films: selective cell growth in 3D polymer architectures
Narayanan Madaboosi, Katja Uhlig, Stephan Schmidt, Magnus S. Jäger, Helmuth Möhwald, Claus Duschl and Dmitry V. Volodkin
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40058H

Gene-Z: a device for point of care genetic testing using a smartphone
Robert D. Stedtfeld, Dieter M. Tourlousse, Gregoire Seyrig, Tiffany M. Stedtfeld, Maggie Kronlein, Scott Price, Farhan Ahmad, Erdogan Gulari, James M. Tiedje and Syed A. Hashsham
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21226A

DNA electrophoresis in a nanofence array
Sung-Gyu Park, Daniel W. Olson and Kevin D. Dorfman
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC00016D

Also in this issue is the ninth instalment of our Acoustofluidics series – this issue’s article focuses on the design, construction and applications of planar resonant devices for acoustic manipulation of particles and cells.

Acoustofluidics 9: Modelling and applications of planar resonant devices for acoustic particle manipulation
Peter Glynne-Jones, Rosemary J. Boltryk and Martyn Hill
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21257A

Finally, this issue sees the start of a new Focus article series from Tony Jun Huang that will discuss bio-related issues that impact on lab on a chip and microfluidic research. The first article focuses on microfluidic devices for diagnostics in the developing world.

Microfluidic diagnostics for the developing world
Xiaole Mao and Tony Jun Huang
DOI:10.1039/C2LC90022J

Read the rest of issue 8 now!

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LOC article featuring a ‘gut-on-a-chip’ is mentioned in the press

29 Mar 2012

The recent LOC article from Editorial Board member Donald Ingber and colleagues at Harvard University has been selected as a Research Highlight by Nature. The article describes a microfluidic chip that can model the structure and physiology of the human intestinal system, using two microfluidic channels coated with human intestinal epithelial cells. The channels can be used to culture Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, a common intestinal microbe, and the microdevice has the potential for use in drug development.

The article has also been picked up by several news sites, including Science Daily, Medgadget, Gizmag, CNET Australia and SmartPlanet!

Congratulations to Donald and the rest of the team!

You can read the Nature article online here or go straight to the Lab on a Chip paper:

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LOC articles on drug screening and a ‘nanoslinky’ in the press

27 Mar 2012

Siva Vanapalli and colleagues at Texas Tech University have developed a one-step passive strategy to create concentration gradients in static droplet arrays. Their recent Lab on a Chip article has been reported in PhysOrg.com, which discusses the implications of the technology for the future of drug testing.

Read the PhysOrg.com article here, or read the Lab on a Chip paper:

Microfluidic static droplet arrays with tuneable gradients in material composition
Meng Sun, Swastika S. Bithi and Siva A. Vanapalli
DOI: 10.1039/C1LC20709A

Samuel Stavis and colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a nanoscale fluidic channel shaped like a staircase, which can be used to control the direction of drift of a DNA molecule through a fluid. An article in Nanotechnology Now discusses how this ‘nanoslinky’ presents new possibilities for manipulating and measuring DNA.

Read the article in Nanotechnology Now, or read the Lab on a Chip paper:

DNA molecules descending a nanofluidic staircase by entropophoresis
Samuel M. Stavis, Jon Geist, Michael Gaitan, Laurie E. Locascio and Elizabeth A. Strychalski
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21152A

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Have you made your nominations for a Pioneer of Miniaturisation?

20 Mar 2012

Editor Harp Minhas and Editorial Board member Po Ki Yuen (Corning Inc) with Ali Khademhosseini (2011 Lectureship winner)

The Lab on a Chip/Corning Inc Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lecture is awarded annually to an early to mid-career scientist for extraordinary or outstanding contributions to the understanding or development of miniaturised systems.

The Lectureship is jointly awarded by Lab on a Chip and Corning Incorporated at the annual µTAS Conference, to be held this year in Okinawa, Japan, and includes $5000 ($2000 of which may be used to attend µTAS).

Previous winners include Professor Stephen Quake (Stanford, California, USA) and Professor Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard-MIT, USA).

We would like to invite you to nominate your outstanding colleagues for this lectureship – the deadline for nominations is 28th May 2012. Full details of the criteria and how to submit the nominations are to be found on the Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lecture webpage.

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Call for papers: Emerging Investigators themed issue

20 Mar 2012

Lab on a Chip will again be publishing a themed issue dedicated to the work of Emerging Investigators, guested edited by Professors Amy Herr and Aaron Wheeler, with the aim of giving wide-spread exposure to current advances from new investigators and stimulate further progress in the field based on these new advances.

We are inviting promising researchers, to contribute original research in their own areas of expertise to make a valuable addition to the current literature via this exciting project. The Emerging Investigators themed issue will focus on technical contributions made by investigators who started their first independent position (e.g., Assistant Professor) within the last seven years.

We are hoping that you will be able to make a contribution of original, unpublished work conducted in your independent laboratory for this issue.

For an example of a previous Emerging Investigators issue, please see here.

The final submission deadline for manuscripts will be April 30, 2012, with the aim of publication to coincide with µTAS 2012, in late-October 2012. If you would like more information, or wish to contribute to this exciting issue, please contact the Lab on a Chip Editorial Office.

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