Microfluidic droplets: how to study the dynamic behaviour of a cell

Microfluidic droplets: how to study the dynamic behaviour of a cell

When we study biology at school, we learn that cells contain well-defined structures of various complexity having different functions. However, cells are also able to quickly generate and dissolve simple liquid droplets to respond to stimuli. Secondly, similar droplets have been linked to neurodegeneration and ultimately, analogous structures can be engineered and used in the pharmaceutical field for drug delivery.

For the reasons above, interest is growing towards these systems and microfluidics is emerging as a powerful tool to study them.

In this talk Alessia Villois, a 4th year PhD student at ETH Zurich, will give an overview of this research area, what is microfluidic technology and how it addresses questions about the mechanisms of droplets formation and dissolution.

The talk is in Italian.

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