Gonzales, D.L. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.55 (2017).

Measurements of electrical activity in small organisms such as C. elegans or Drosophila larvae require invasive preparations. Gonzales et al. describe a microfluidic device that allows measuring the activity of body wall muscles in C. elegans in the intact animal. The device harbors nanoscale suspended electrode arrays (nano-SPEARs) that are tightly pressed against the animal. The individual electrodes are thin enough to record the activity of only one or a few cells. The researchers apply their device to assess muscle-cell activity in worms expressing channelrhodopsin in motor neurons, in mutant worms with defects in action potential formation or in models of neurological diseases at high throughput. The device is versatile enough to be adapted to other small organisms such as Hydra.