Achievement

Digital microfluidics enables automated manipulation of discrete droplets of liquid, which is useful for performing complex sample preparations and analytical protocols. A challenge in manipulating biological samples is that proteins may adsorb irreversibly on the device surface, impeding droplet movement. Although surfactants can be added to prevent protein adsorption, additional purification steps are then required to remove the surfactants prior to sample analysis, complicating the protocols. In his work published in Lab on a Chip (DOI: 10.1039/c2lc21135a), Andrew Aijian showed that protein solutions can be moved without surfactants by encapsulating the droplets in a fluorinated oil that is removed by evaporation. Andrew demonstrated this approach by performing the sample preparation and analysis steps for peptide mass fingerprinting on a microfluidic device without the need for ex-situ purification steps.