Professor Tartagni

Lab-on-a-chips for Cellular and Molecular Biology

In the talk I will describe motivation and results of the research on microelectronic sensors and actuators for biological applications made by our group. In the first part, I will show lab-on-a-chips for highly parallel manipulation and analysis of living cells with single cell resolution. The device generates on its surface programmable electric field so as to establish tens of thousands dielectrophoretic cages. Eukaryotic cells immersed in the fluid above the chip are trapped in the cages so as to be moved independently and simultaneously under software control. This approach allows fine selection and recovery of cells of interest, emulating on a miniaturized scale macroscopic laboratory equipments. On the basis of this successful experience, we scaled down the target from cells to molecules. Molecular sensing is a technique where Technology cannot compete with Nature. As an example, the accuracy of chemical senses in insects is 100 billions greater than state-of-the-art electronic noses. The incredible sensitivity of living beings is based on the molecular recognition paradigm associated with the the ligand-receptor interaction. Thus, we are aimed at developing a biomimetic approach for molecular recognition following this principle. However, it raises several challenges that require new strategies with strong synergy between different disciplines: biochemistry, microfluidics, electronics and data processing. The presentation, will focus on challenges and results of the RECEPTRONICS project funded by the European Commission.