Related Experiment Videos
Lab-on-a-chip: microfluidics in drug discovery.
Petra S Dittrich1, Andreas Manz
1ISAS - Institute for Analytical Sciences, Bunsen-Kirchhoff-Str. 11, D44139 Dortmund, Germany. dittrich@ansci.de
Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery
|March 7, 2006
Summary
Microfluidics technology shrinks bioassays, enhancing throughput and enabling novel applications. This miniaturization, or
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Chemical Engineering
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Miniaturization enhances capabilities in bioassays, separation technologies, and chemical synthesis.
- Scaling laws for surface-area-to-volume ratio, molecular diffusion, and heat transport drive significant throughput increases.
- Microfluidic chips offer advantages over traditional microwell-plate and bead-based methods for fluid handling.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current and future applications of microfluidics.
- To highlight the potential of 'lab-on-a-chip' technology in drug discovery.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on microfluidics applications.
- Analysis of scaling laws impacting microscale processes.
- Comparison of microfluidic systems with conventional fluid handling techniques.
Main Results:
- Microfluidics enables dramatic increases in throughput due to altered physical laws at the microscale.
- Microfluidic chips provide precise fluid control and integration, outperforming robotic fluid handling in many cases.
- Novel applications of microfluidics, impossible at macroscopic scales, are emerging.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidics significantly expands the potential of bioassays, separation, and synthesis.
- 'Lab-on-a-chip' technology holds immense promise for revolutionizing drug discovery processes.
- Continued development in microfluidics is expected to yield further innovations across scientific disciplines.