Cyanobacteria are model species for studying photosynthesis and recently have been gaining increased attention for their ability to produce renewable fuels and chemicals by harvesting solar energy and recycling carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, despite all the recent research and exciting achievements made regarding cyanobacteria, genetic transformation...

Glucose, oxygen, and extracellular pH are important components of human metabolic processes -- many diseases are associated with glucose transport and metabolic disorders including diabetes and cancer. Monitoring glucose and cell metabolism can provide invaluable information for understanding these diseases. There are many assays and sensors for glucose,...

Glucose and oxygen are important components of human metabolic processes -- many diseases are associated with glucose transport and metabolic disorders including diabetes and cancer. Monitoring glucose and cell metabolism can provide invaluable information for understanding these diseases. There are many assays and sensors for both glucose and oxygen,...

Single-cell and cell cluster optical tomography, or Cell-CT, has found increasing application in life sciences basic research. Two limitations to its use in this area are that it can image only fixed cells, and the lack of thixotropic gels that can support live cells and also satisfy refractive index constraints. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute...

The accurate measurement of potassium ion levels in biological samples is essential given the impact such ion levels have on many aspects of homeo-stasis. Normal potassium levels are important for the maintenance of heart and nervous system function. Traditionally, potassium ions have been measured in plasma or serum using ion-selective electrodes,...

The efficiency of biofuel production depends on the photosynthetic activity of microbes; to maximize their growth it is necessary to continually monitor the environmental conditions. Traditional monitoring methods (such as using electrodes to measure CO2 consumption and/or O2 generation) are typically time- and labor-intensive, have low throughput,...

Determination of consumption/secretion rates of single-cell resolution has great potential for delivering detailed insights into early onset and development of various disease states as well as drug and stimulus response. Due the lack of sensitivity of current technologies, this information is difficult to obtain. Single cell measurements in vivo are...

Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) is a well-established method for amplifying DNA using fluorescent probes. Traditionally this is a step-wise process where an aliquot of the DNA to be amplified is deposited in a chamber and amplified/measured in the chamber. Current systems require significant time for sample preparation including tissue disaggregation,...

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has great potential for sensitive and selective nucleic acid analysis in resource-limited settings. Amplifications can be easily observed via optical means such as colorimetry which combines robust performance and simple instrumentation. To date, microfluidic approaches based on colorimetric detection have...

High-dimensional single cell visualization technologies are redefining the way we view and understand biological systems, particularly when identifying and analyzing cancer cells. Some cell defects on the surface or in the interior of a cell just can't be properly evaluated in two dimensional microscopy. However, to completely visualize and quantitatively...