Work

Lifespan-on-a-chip: microfluidic chambers for performing lifelong observation of C. elegans

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: This article describes the fabrication of a microfluidic device for the liquid culture of many individual nematode worms (Caenorhabditis elegans) in separate chambers. Each chamber houses a single worm from the fourth larval stage until death, and enables examination of a population of individual worms for their entire adult lifespans. Adjacent to the chambers, the device includes microfluidic worm clamps, which enable periodic, temporary immobilization of each worm. The device made it possible to track changes in body size and locomotion in individual worms throughout their lifespans. This ability to perform longitudinal measurements within the device enabled the identification of age-related phenotypic changes that correlate with lifespan in C. elegans.

Source: Lab on a Chip

DOI: 10.1039/b919265d

Authors: S. Elizabeth Hulme, Sergey S. Shevkoplyas, Alison P. McGuigan, Javier Apfeld, Walter Fontana, George M. Whitesides

Institutions: Harvard University, Tulane University

Language: English

Topic: Microfluidic and Capillary Electrophoresis Applications

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Awards: The variability of the lifespan phenotype in C.elegans, Nano-Scale Tools for Use in Cell Biology