title: End-to-end automated microfluidic platform for synthetic biology: from design to functional analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Synthetic biology aims to engineer biological systems for desired behaviors. The construction of these systems can be complex, often requiring genetic reprogramming, extensive de novo DNA synthesis, and functional screening.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Herein, we present a programmable, multipurpose microfluidic platform and associated software and apply the platform to major steps of the synthetic biology research cycle: design, construction, testing, and analysis. We show the platform's capabilities for multiple automated DNA assembly methods, including a new method for Isothermal Hierarchical DNA Construction, and for Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformation. The platform enables the automated control of cellular growth, gene expression induction, and proteogenic and metabolic output analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together, we demonstrate the microfluidic platform's potential to provide end-to-end solutions for synthetic biology research, from design to functional analysis.
authors.affiliation: Fuels Synthesis and Technologies Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA ; Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA ; DNA Synthesis Science Program, DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Linshiz
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA ; HJ Science & Technology Inc., Berkeley, CA 94710 USA.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Fuels Synthesis and Technologies Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA ; Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stawski
authors.affiliation: Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA ; Present address: Tianjin Institute of Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Changhao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Fuels Synthesis and Technologies Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA ; Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Elsbree
authors.affiliation: HJ Science & Technology Inc., Berkeley, CA 94710 USA.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA ; Present address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409 USA.
authors.forename: Jungkyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mathies
authors.affiliation: Fuels Synthesis and Technologies Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA ; Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA ; Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
authors.forename: Jay D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Keasling
authors.affiliation: Fuels Synthesis and Technologies Divisions, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA ; Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA ; DNA Synthesis Science Program, DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 USA.
authors.forename: Nathan J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Hillson
keywords: Analysis; Cell culture; DNA assembly; Microfluidics; Synthetic biology; Transformation
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