In vitro compartmentalization (IVC): A high-throughput screening technology using emulsions and FACS

Extract: All screening approaches rely on ways of compartmentalizing assay reactions, and means of rapidly screening various molecules imbedded in these compartments. Miniaturization, which has become the hallmark of modern science and technology, has also been applied to screening, thus leading to a variety of high-throughput screening (HTS) technologies that aim at the smallest possible reaction volumes and the most sensitive and rapid means of detection. These demands are general and do not depend on the type of molecules (genes, proteins, small molecules, etc.) or activity (enzymatic, binding, inhibitory, etc.) that are being screened for, nor on the target of screening (functional genomics, directed evolution, drug discovery, etc.). Conventional HTS approaches use either robotic 2D-arrays (e.g., microtitre plates), or living cells. In vitro compartmentalization (IVC) is a newly developed technology that uses the aqueous droplets of water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions as cell-like compartments.