RSC.org - US scientists have speeded up worm microsurgery to improve our understanding of animal behaviour. Hang Lu and Kwanghun Chung from the Georgia Institute of Technology designed a high throughput microfluidic system that can handle and operate on a worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans. Lu and Chung's device has two sets of worm-loading channels that operate at the same time. Worms enter and exit at one set, while imaging and laser ablation are performed at the other. . . Lu and Chung say they will use this type of system for many applications in development and behavioural neuroscience in model organisms. 'The challenge is to make these microfluidic chips and the off-chip components even easier to use such that the technology can be popularised and make an impact in biological and medical research,' Lu comments.
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