Microfluidics articles within Nature Chemistry

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Evolution separates complex modern enzymes from their hypothetical simpler early ancestors, which raises the question of how unevolved sequences can develop new functions. Here a library of non-natural protein sequences was subjected to ultrahigh-throughput screens in microfluidic droplets, leading to the isolation of a phosphodiesterase enzyme capable of hydrolysing the biological second messenger, cyclic AMP.

    • J. David Schnettler
    • , Michael S. Wang
    •  & Michael H. Hecht

  • Article |

    Crystals of hexachlorobenzene have now been shown to support the autonomous motion of water and particulate matter over their surface. Parallel microchannels present at the surface of the crystal gradually widen by sublimation, propelling droplets of condensed ambient water that can also transport microscopic amounts of material such as silver microparticles.

    • Patrick Commins
    • , Marieh B. Al-Handawi
    •  & Panče Naumov

  • Article |

    Methods to detect and identify bacteria typically rely on enrichment steps such as bacterial culture and nucleic acid amplification. Now, an assay for detecting bacteria based on a two-channel electrical chip that combines electroactive DNAzymes with an electrochemical readout, has been developed. This assay enables reagentless and culture-free detection of bacteria in clinical samples.

    • Richa Pandey
    • , Dingran Chang
    •  & Leyla Soleymani

  • Article |

    Droplet interface bilayer measurements have now shown that membranes formed from chiral phospholipid bilayers are enantioselectively permeable to chiral amino acids. The results show that membrane stereochemistry is necessary and sufficient to drive such enantioselective transport, presenting a new potential route to homochirality. These findings could also have implications for pharmacokinetics and drug design.

    • Juan Hu
    • , Wesley G. Cochrane
    •  & Brian M. Paegel

  • Article |

    Gene-circuit-based sensors have, to date, largely relied on optical proteins (such as green fluorescent protein) to report the output, which limits the signalling bandwidth. Now, an electrochemical output has been developed and integrated with cell-free gene circuits. This approach enables multiplexing of sensors and introduces the possibility of electronic-based logic, memory and response elements to synthetic biology.

    • Peivand Sadat Mousavi
    • , Sarah J. Smith
    •  & Keith Pardee

  • Article |

    Dynamic nonlinear biochemical circuits are functionally rich; however, this nonlinear nature also makes programming them delicate and painstaking. Now a droplet microfluidic platform reveals precisely the bifurcations of two canonical systems: a bistable switch and a predator–prey oscillator, exposing optimal regions and mechanistic insights that inform the design of these systems.

    • A. J. Genot
    • , A. Baccouche
    •  & Y. Rondelez

  • News & Views |

    A method for directly probing binding interactions in free solution, without the need for chemical tagging, offers exciting opportunities for non-perturbative analyses of biomolecules in their native state.

    • Enrique Valera
    •  & Ryan C. Bailey

  • Article |

    Immobilized microfluidic water-in-oil droplets serve as templates for layer-by-layer deposition of lipid monolayers to create vesicles of programmable lamellarity and content. Arrays of vesicles allow reproducible assembly and multi-vesicle probing of complex membrane-associated parameters, such as permeability, asymmetry and membrane protein function.

    • Sandro Matosevic
    •  & Brian M. Paegel

  • News & Views |

    A microfluidic device design that allows a nanolitre droplet to be trapped and sequentially diluted without the need for any moving parts opens up new possibilities in high-throughput screening.

    • Glenn M Walker

  • Article |

    Droplet microfluidics offer a convenient platform for high-throughput experimentation. It has been difficult, however, to rapidly and controllably vary concentration — a key process used in macro-scale experiments. Here, a droplet dilution module is described that traps a mother droplet and then repeatedly dilutes it releasing a series of droplets that define a digital concentration gradient.

    • Xize Niu
    • , Fabrice Gielen
    •  & Andrew J. deMello

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