Issue 8, 2016

Droplet-based microfluidics in drug discovery, transcriptomics and high-throughput molecular genetics

Abstract

Droplet-based microfluidics enables assays to be carried out at very high throughput (up to thousands of samples per second) and enables researchers to work with very limited material, such as primary cells, patient's biopsies or expensive reagents. An additional strength of the technology is the possibility to perform large-scale genotypic or phenotypic screens at the single-cell level. Here we critically review the latest developments in antibody screening, drug discovery and highly multiplexed genomic applications such as targeted genetic workflows, single-cell RNAseq and single-cell ChIPseq. Starting with a comprehensive introduction for non-experts, we pinpoint current limitations, analyze how they might be overcome and give an outlook on exciting future applications.

Graphical abstract: Droplet-based microfluidics in drug discovery, transcriptomics and high-throughput molecular genetics

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
23 Feb 2016
Accepted
18 Mar 2016
First published
18 Mar 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Lab Chip, 2016,16, 1314-1331

Droplet-based microfluidics in drug discovery, transcriptomics and high-throughput molecular genetics

N. Shembekar, C. Chaipan, R. Utharala and C. A. Merten, Lab Chip, 2016, 16, 1314 DOI: 10.1039/C6LC00249H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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