Automated and Dynamic Control of Chemical Content in Droplets for Scalable Screens of Small Animals (Small 17/2022)

Small Animal Screening In article number 2200319, Hang Lu and co-workers develop a droplet-based microfluidic platform for the screening of dynamic phenotypes in small animals. The microfluidic liquid exchanger unit illustrated here allows switching of the chemical environment of an animal encapsulated in a droplet. This method represents an efficient way of altering the chemical or biological environment of an animal (here C. elegans) and monitoring its dynamic response. Integrated with an encapsulation unit and chemical dispensers, this system leads to a powerful technology that will help bridge the gap between the environment, genotype, and phenotype.