Biology-on-chip: Developing microfluidic tools for biologists

In this seminar, several projects will be discussed, all revolving around the development of microfluidic tools for clinicians and biologists. Firstly, I will come back to FetaSAFE, the MRC CiC project (June 2013-June 2014) on fetal fractions enrichment in maternal blood, and re-discuss last summer’s findings which will be an introduction to Witold Mielczarek’s talk in August. Secondly, I will present a microfluidic platform for genome segments purification in the context of synthetic part assembly which was developed with Will Shu in an ITI-Scottish Enterprise funded program (2009-2010) and has recently been accepted for publication. Thirdly, I’ll discuss a pilot study (2014) on the use of protein coatings on PMMA (Poly(methyl methacrylate), a widely used plastic that can be easily laser-cut to form cell-culture chambers). Finally I will introduce an ambitious public engagement project (recently funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering within the Ingenious Scheme, and running until June 2015) which will be of interest to PhDs and RAs who want to expand their research horizons.