title: Microfluidic technologies for studying synthetic circuits.
abstract: Advances in synthetic biology have augmented the available toolkit of biomolecular modules, allowing engineering and manipulation of signaling in a variety of organisms, ranging in complexity from single bacteria and eukaryotic cells to multi-cellular systems. The richness of synthetic circuit outputs can be dramatically enhanced by sophisticated environmental control systems designed to precisely pattern spatial-temporally heterogeneous environmental stimuli controlling these circuits. Moreover, the performance of the synthetic modules and 'blocks' needed to assemble more complicated networks requires more complete characterization as a function of arbitrarily complex environmental inputs. Microfluidic technologies are poised to meet these needs through a variety of innovative designs capitalizing on the unique benefits of manipulating fluids on the micro-scales and nano-scales. This review discusses the utility of microfluidics for the study of synthetic circuits and highlights recent work in the area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institue for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levchenko
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D058615:Synthetic Biology / Q000295:instrumentation*