Transcript Lab on a Chip

Lab on a Chip
Or: The Incredible Shrinking Science Experiment!
Or: APOIBE!
Dr. Eric Lagally
[email protected]
Credits: Mathies Lab, UC-Berkeley
Quake Lab, Stanford
Agilent, Inc.
Lab on a Chip?
Microfluidics
Microfluidics: The use of microfabrication techniques
from the IC industry to fabricate channels, chambers,
reactors, and active components on the size scale of the
width of a human hair or smaller
Credit: Dr. Karen Cheung, UBC ECE
Why use microfluidics?
Credit: Dr. Karen Cheung, UBC ECE
1 molecule in 1 mL = 1.6 x 10-18 M
1 molecule in 1 nL = 1.6 x 10-15 M
1 molecule in 1 pL = 1.6 x 10-12 M
Why use microfluidics?
• Sample savings – nL of enzyme, not mL
• Faster analyses – can heat, cool small volumes
quickly
• Integration – combine lots of steps onto a single
device
• Novel physics – diffusion, surface tension, and
surface effects dominate
– This can actually lead to faster reactions!
Some interesting LOC applications
• Genetic analysis
– Portable devices for pathogen detection
– High-throughput biology
• Chemical synthesis
• Metabolite analysis
• Drug delivery systems
Courtesy of Dr. Boris Stoeber
Genetic analysis microsystems
Bacterial Pathogens
Food poisoning
Wound infections
Lung Disease
Dr. Sharon Peacock, University of Oxford
Biowarfare
Food poisoning:
Pathogenic E. coli: >1 in 10,000 in Canada
Salmonella spp.: as high as 1 in 50 eggs
Wound infections:
Antibiotic-resistant S. aureus: as high as 50%
Lung Disease:
Pseudomonas spp.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Biowarfare:
Anthrax, plague, smallpox
Methods for Genetic Detection of Pathogens
OLD WAY:
NEW WAY:
Develop bacterial pathogen
detectors that are:
Rapid (< 1 hour)
General (many different types of pathogens)
Sensitive (detect a single cell)
Genetically Specific
Field-portable
PCR-CE Microsystem Fabrication
Portable System for Infectious Disease Detection
System measures 8 x 10 x 12 inches
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Complete fluorescence detection including
488-nm solid-state laser, PMT, optics,
and detection electronics
Heater and RTD electronics
4 high-voltage CE power supplies
PDMS microvalve hardware
Simple PC interface
Temperature (°C)
Thermal Cycling Characteristics
Time (seconds)
Time (seconds)
> 5X faster than conventional thermal cyclers
Application: Tuberculosis (TB) detection
Disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis
9 million new cases of active TB every year worldwide
2 million TB deaths every year
450,000 new cases of multi-drug resistant TB / yr
10% of TB cases in South Africa are XDR TB strains,
resistant to first- and second-line antibiotics
Doctors Without Borders:
Current TB detection methods
1. Fixation and staining with acid-fast stains
(Ziehl-Neelsen or auramine stains)
2. Optical or fluorescence microscope
examination ( 10,000 organisms/mL)
3. Culture in biosafety level 3 containment
facility
In select cases, molecular detection is
used to verify diagnosis
"That TB destroys millions of lives around the world every year shows that the
current approach is just not working…The tools we have to treat and diagnose TB are
woefully inadequate and outdated, and we're not seeing the necessary
urgency to tackle the disease."
Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer,
Director, DWB’s Campaign for the Access to Essential Medicines
The Not-so-Distant Future
2008
PDA
2308??
Paramount