Chemical Engineering @ChemengFiles.Com

A work of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) system could provide a more accurate diagnosis for variant sporadic Burkitt's lymphoma, a highly aggressive tumor growth and that affects the lymphatic system and, in the absence of treatment, is fatal in a few months. The investigation, which is published in Cancer Research, could lead to the development of more targeted therapies and less toxic than those currently used.

The study is the work of the researcher Private-CSIC Irene Molina, also under the direction of the CSIC researcher Miguel R. Campanero, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (CSIC joint center and the Autonomous University of Madrid). Scientists have counted on the participation of Miguel Angel Piris group, the National Cancer Center, and Javier Menárguez, Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid.

Freeze-drying preserves the desirable aspects of the concentrated extract of coffee. The final product generates a higher market price before the demand for quality parameters such as color, density, and solubility.

The freeze-drying process allows a unique degree of control over these crucial parameters for quality.

In this thesis, I have developed elastomeric microfabricated cell sorting devices using a micromachining technology, "soft lithography". Inexpensive elastomeric microfabricated devices were designed to replace flow chambers in conventional fluorescence-activatived cell sorters (FACS). Sorting of cells and other particles was accomplished via different means of flow control. My early work of cell sorting on these devices was accomplished using electrokinetic flow. However, in order to alleviate problems associated with electrokinetic flow, the microfabricated cell sorter was integrated with microvalves and micropumps for pneumatic actuation control. The integrated cell sorter has better capabilities of fine-tuning the flow control, manipulating single cells and is less harmful to the cells than electrokinetic flow. Substantial enrichments of beads and cells were accomplished on these devices. Novel sorting algorithms, which can only be implemented in microfabricated devices, were also demonstrated. Compared with conventional FACS, these microfabricated devices allow for more sensitive optical detection for bacterial cells and DNA, innovative sorting schemes and are disposable to eliminate any cross-contamination from previous runs. Ultimately, these elastomeric microfluidic flow cells provide an inexpensive, robust and effective way to perform cell sorting and can be used as stand-alone devices or as a part of an integrated system for diagnostics and/or cytometric measurements.

Presently, the microfabricated cell sorter is enjoying new applications in various fields for high throughput screening, including directed evolution, digital genetic circuits, microbiology and cell biology of gene expression and regulation. In addition, this sorter is not limited only to the detection of optical signals. I have attached the sorter to a high resolution magnetometer, a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscope, to obtain cytometric data of the magnetic field strengths of magnetotactic bacteria as they flowed through the device.