Microfluidics revolutionizes the lab

Based on innovations in semiconductors and nanotechnology, microfluidics promises to transform research by bringing unprecedented automation, integration and ease of use to the laboratory. The latest microfluidics device from Agilent is the 5100 Automated Lab-on-a-chip, the first fully automated, high-throughput microfluidics-based alternative to gel electrophoresis. The Agilent 5100 allows for the unattended analysis of thousands of DNA and protein samples per day, with two key advantages over gel electrophoresis: full automation and reproducible, digital data. The system automates the entire electrophoresis workflow of sample handling and analysis, lowering per-sample analysis time by a factor of 10 and allowing unattended analysis of up to 3,840 samples per run. Its digital data can be archived and data-mined with multiple filters and queries. All data is stored within an Oracle database, which enables users to easily compare millions of data points and thousands of samples.