Difference between revisions of "Team:Uppsala/Project/Microfluidics"
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
<body> | <body> | ||
| − | + | <h2> Microfluidics | |
<div class="container" | <div class="container" | ||
<div class="row"> | <div class="row"> | ||
Revision as of 12:37, 22 June 2016
Microfluidics
What we have been up to
We are in the process of making a microfluidic device that will be used for cell transformation. Hitherto, we have been able to 3D print a couple of designs and discuss our final design. After we 3D print a mold that is satisfactory, we will bake PDMS on it and can later begin to test our chip. During our first trials we would like to keep things simple in order to make troubleshooting as painless of a process as possible. Therefore, we have decided to start off with the heat shock method of transformation. Our initial thoughts are to have a channel on the chip running with cells and plasmids and a parallel channel with temperature regulated water. With this technique we hope to be able to expose CaCl2 competent cells to a heat shock preceded and followed by low temperatures; much like a conventional heat shock.
Moreover we are in the process of calculating the cost for an ordinary heat shock. The reason for this being that one of our main goals is to make cell transformation more affordable.
Plans for electroporation
One of our final goals is to produce a chip that enables electroporation. The best way to perform electroporation on a chip (as read in literature) is to use droplet techniques. That is, droplets of cell growth medium and cells separated by nonconductive material. The most common nonconductive material used is fluorinated oil. These oils are generally expensive, hard to find and may be toxic. For this reason we are considering separating droplets with gas; more precisely N2.
Next week, we hope to bake our chip and start running experiments with it.
What we have been up to
We are in the process of making a microfluidic device that will be used for cell transformation. Hitherto, we have been able to 3D print a couple of designs and discuss our final design. After we 3D print a mold that is satisfactory, we will bake PDMS on it and can later begin to test our chip. During our first trials we would like to keep things simple in order to make troubleshooting as painless of a process as possible. Therefore, we have decided to start off with the heat shock method of transformation. Our initial thoughts are to have a channel on the chip running with cells and plasmids and a parallel channel with temperature regulated water. With this technique we hope to be able to expose CaCl2 competent cells to a heat shock preceded and followed by low temperatures; much like a conventional heat shock. Moreover we are in the process of calculating the cost for an ordinary heat shock. The reason for this being that one of our main goals is to make cell transformation more affordable.
Plans for electroporation
One of our final goals is to produce a chip that enables electroporation. The best way to perform electroporation on a chip (as read in literature) is to use droplet techniques. That is, droplets of cell growth medium and cells separated by nonconductive material. The most common nonconductive material used is fluorinated oil. These oils are generally expensive, hard to find and may be toxic. For this reason we are considering separating droplets with gas; more precisely N2.
Next week, we hope to bake our chip and start running experiments with it.