Micro and Nano Fluidics for Biological Applications
-From Single Molecule Dynamics to Cell Control-
Pak Kin Wong, PhD
Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration and
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract
In the past decade, there have been great advancements in
micro and nano fluidics. These techniques yield new opportunities
in numerous areas from basic science to various biomedical
applications. With properly designed fluidic devices, cells
and molecules can be directly manipulated by the controllable
flow patterns inside the device, which provides a pathway
to exploit the bio-nano world. In this talk, development
of various micro and nano fluidic systems for biological
applications will be discussed. Specific examples include
i) a hydrodynamic focusing chip for stretching single DNA
molecules, ii) an AC electroosmotic bio-processor for concentrating
a large range of biological objects, including E. coli bacteria,
? phage DNA, and single-strand DNA fragments as small as
20 bases that have a radius of gyration of only 3nm, and
iii) closed-loop optimization of cellular functions using
a stochastic search algorithm. Serving as the link between
the bio and nano sciences and technologies, fluidics possess
the potential of being the generic platform to study and
control a wide class of cells and other biological systems.
Biography
Dr. Wong received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University
of California, Los Angeles and the B.Eng. degree from The
Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is currently a Postdoctoral
Researcher at UCLA. He has published 27 papers in archived
journals and peer-reviewed conference proceedings in the
area of micro/nanotechnology and biomedical engineering
and is an inventor on a pending U.S. patent. His current
research interests focus on micro and nano fluidics, molecular/cellular
biomechanics, and micro total analysis systems.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
2 PM, 337 Towne Bldg.
