An overarching goal in biology is to develop a complete understanding of cellular mechanisms by studying the functions of intra- and inter-cellular molecular interactions that trigger and coordinate cellular events. However, the complexity of biological systems causes accurate and quantitative biology experimentation to be a significant challenge. Most biological experimentation focuses on highly detailed investigation of a single signaling mechanism, which lacks the throughput necessary to reconstruct the entirety of the biological system, while high-throughput testing often lacks the fidelity and detail necessary to fully comprehend the mechanisms of signal propagation. Experimentation in biological systems can, however, benefit greatly from progress in the development of microfluidic devices. Microfluidics provides the opportunity to study systems at both the single- and multi-cellular levels, as well as at the tissue level, with high resolution and precise localized control of experimental conditions. These devices offer the ability to work with smaller reagent volumes, extended experiment times, and the possibility of massively parallel operation. They also hold the promise of integrating an entire physiological system surrogate on a single chip (i.e., body-on-a-chip). Additionally, the capability to parallelize devices on a chip opens the door for high-throughput, high fidelity experimentation to aid in accurate and precise unraveling of the intertwined signaling systems that compose the inner workings of cells and tissues.

This workshop seeks to bring together a diverse array of researchers in engineering, chemistry, biophysics, and the biological sciences to focus on state of the art practices in developing micro-total analytical systems to test important biological hypotheses. An important goal of the workshop is to advance the potential for implementation of microfluidic devices to as-yet unimagined challenges in quantitative biology.

Workshop organizers
David Dandy, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State University
Chuck Henry, Chemistry, Colorado State University