Abstract
Microfluidics has emerged as a set of powerful tools that have greatly advanced some areas of biological research, including research using C. elegans. The use of microfluidics has enabled many experiments that are otherwise impossible with conventional methods. Today there are many examples that demonstrate the main advantages of using microfluidics for C. elegans research, achieving precise environmental conditions and facilitating worm handling. Examples range from behavioral analysis under precise chemical or odor stimulation, locomotion studies in well-defined structural surroundings, and even long-term culture on chip. Moreover, microfluidics has enabled coupling worm handling and imaging thus facilitating genetic screens, optogenetic studies, and laser ablation experiments. In this article, we review some of the applications of microfluidics for C. elegans research and provide guides for the design, fabrication, and use of microfluidic devices for C. elegans research studies.
Highlights
Microfluidics has recently emerged as a new technology for studies at the small scale ranging from the biological sciences, soft matter, reactions and synthesis, high-throughput drug screening, encapsulation, and lab-on-chip diagnostics (Whitesides, 2006)
Microfluidic devices evolved from the microfabrication methods used for electronic chips and MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), which produce devices with small features ranging from 1 to 100 μm with high precision
Simple microfluidic devices are made by soft lithography replica molding of a flexible silicone elastomer, PDMS (Duffy et al, 1998; McDonald et al, 2000; Xia and Whitesides, 1998)
Summary
Microfluidics has recently emerged as a new technology for studies at the small scale ranging from the biological sciences, soft matter, reactions and synthesis, high-throughput drug screening, encapsulation, and lab-on-chip diagnostics (Whitesides, 2006). Simple microfluidic devices are made by soft lithography replica molding of a flexible silicone elastomer, PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) (Duffy et al, 1998; McDonald et al, 2000; Xia and Whitesides, 1998). Microfluidic devices for worm studies can be made in a single layer or in multiple layers, with valves or without them, with square or round channels, and with structures as simple as a channel or with very complicated features of only a few microns in size. They can incorporate elements for efficient immobilization and worm trapping. We aim to illustrate a suite of possibilities and inspire future applications
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