Researchers may be able to ditch the expensive photolithography equipment used for making microfluidic flow cells and cell-patterning devices designed to study cellular spatial organization. Scotch tape and a scalpel are all that’s needed, says Raquel Perez-Castillejos, a biomedical engineer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
Typically, researchers use photolithographic technology to fabricate the tiny chambers and channels used in microfluidic devices, or wells for depositing cells onto specific parts of culture dishes and slides. However, the equipment can be expensive, and generally needs to be housed in dust-free facilities, which are not readily available to all researchers.
Perez-Castillejos realized that such a sophisticated and precise apparatus was not essential for tackling many research questions. “Sometimes we are trying to provide very ...
