Microfluidic Systems Being Adapted for Microbial, Molecular Biological Analyses

Microfluidic analysis depends on devices conaining micrometer-to millimeter-scale components capable of handling microliter-to nanoliter quantities of liquids and gases. Soon after microfluidic inkjet printers came into use in 1987, microfluidic analytic devices with chemical and microbiological endpoints became available in the early 1990s. However, the pace of development remained slow until 1997, when research in microfluidics analytical systems began to grow geometrically. Dozens of examples now illustrate the value of microfluidics in molecular biology, especially for genetic analyses at the DNA level.