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Updated: Mar 21, 2026
A Femtoliter Droplet Array for Massively Parallel Protein Synthesis from Single DNA Molecules
Published on: June 20, 2020
Floating Droplet Array: An Ultrahigh-Throughput Device for Droplet Trapping, Real-time Analysis and Recovery
Louai Labanieh1, Thi N Nguyen1, Weian Zhao1
1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advance Cardiovascular Technology, University of California-Irvine, 845 Health Sciences Road, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
Abstract:
We describe the design, fabrication and use of a dual-layered microfluidic device for ultrahigh-throughput droplet trapping, analysis, and recovery using droplet buoyancy. To demonstrate the utility of this device for digital quantification of analytes, we quantify the number of droplets, which contain a β-galactosidase-conjugated bead among more than 100,000 immobilized droplets. In addition, we demonstrate that this device can be used for droplet clustering and real-time analysis by clustering several droplets together into microwells and monitoring diffusion of fluorescein, a product of the enzymatic reaction of β-galactosidase and its fluorogenic substrate FDG, between droplets.
