Digital microfluidics as an emerging tool for bacterial protocols

Carine R. Nemr; Alexandros A. Sklavounos; Aaron R. Wheeler; Shana O. Kelley

SLAS Technology (Feb 2023)

Digital microfluidics as an emerging tool for bacterial protocols

Carine R. Nemr,
Alexandros A. Sklavounos,
Aaron R. Wheeler,
Shana O. Kelley

Affiliations

Carine R. Nemr: Department of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College, 301 Platt Boulevard, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada; Corresponding author.
Alexandros A. Sklavounos: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada; Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
Aaron R. Wheeler: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada; Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada
Shana O. Kelley: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G9, Canada; Department of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E5, Canada; Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 28, no. 1
pp. 2 – 15

Abstract

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Bacteria are widely studied in various research areas, including synthetic biology, sequencing and diagnostic testing. Protocols involving bacteria are often multistep, cumbersome and require access to a long list of instruments to perform experiments. In order to streamline these processes, the fluid handling technique digital microfluidics (DMF) has provided a miniaturized platform to perform various steps of bacterial protocols from sample preparation to analysis. DMF devices can be paired/interfaced with instrumentation such as microscopes, plate readers, and incubators, demonstrating their versatility with existing research tools. Alternatively, DMF instruments can be integrated into all-in-one packages with on-chip magnetic separation for sample preparation, heating/cooling modules to perform assay steps and cameras for absorbance and/or fluorescence measurements. This perspective outlines the beneficial features DMF offers to bacterial protocols, highlights limitations of current work and proposes future directions for this tool's expansion in the field.

Published in SLAS Technology

ISSN: 2472-6303 (Print); 2472-6311 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Chemical technology: Biotechnology; Medicine: Medicine (General): Medical technology
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/slas-technology

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