Automated DNA-preparation system for bacteria out of air sampler liquids

Preventing bacterial contaminations is a significant challenge in applications across a variety of industries, e.g. in food processing, the life sciences or biohazard detection. Here we present a fully automated lab-on-a-chip system wherein a disposable microfluidic chip moulded by polymeric injection is inserted into an operating device. Liquid samples, here obtained from an air sampler, can be processed to extract and lyse bacteria, and subsequently to purify their DNA using a silica matrix. After the washing and elution steps, the DNA solution is dispensed into a reaction vessel for further analysis in a conventional laboratory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) device. We demonstrate the workability and efficiency of our approach with results from a 9 ml liquid sample spiked with E. coli.