The Application of Microfluidics in Biology

The use of microfluidics has transformed research in cell biology. Microfluidics manipulates fluids and behaviors of cells at a micro scale level which allows the researcher to control the environmental conditions within and surrounding the cell. The application of microfluidics has allowed researchers to manipulate every aspect of a cell’s environment. At one point, the application of microfluidics was geared towards physics and chemistry research. However, in recent years, the number of cell biology researchers using microfluidics has increased significantly. The purpose of this presentation is to showcase the benefits of microfluidics in biology, recent developments in the application of microfluidics in biological research, and the research we hope to conduct. In the future we hope to apply this research method to study variations in gene expression on the single cell level. The use of microfluidics in biological research is important because it allows the researcher to conduct experiments at a micro-scale, allowing faster response times, the use of small liquid volumes, and is cost efficient.