The PhaseChip : Manipulating Phase Diagrams with Microfluidics

When?

Monday 21 February 2011, 14:30 to 15:30

Where?

30 BB 03 Physics Seminar Room

Open to:

Staff, Students

Speaker:

Prof Seth Fraden, Department of Physics, Brandeis University

X-ray diffraction of protein crys- tals reveals protein structure, which is needed to advance fundamental understanding of protein function and for drug development. Currently the phys- ical process of crystallization is the bottleneck in protein structure determination. The PhaseChip, is a microfluidic device that can precisely meter, mix, and store nanoliter volumes of sample, solvent, and other reagents. Thousands of nanoliter drops of different protein solutions can be stored in individual wells. Through the controlled kine tic manipulation of the solution chemical potential the process of nucleation and gr owth can be decoupled, which is crucial for optimizing protein crystallization.