Microfluidics Systems Enable High-Throughput Metagenomics

SME Silicon Valley members are invited to network with IEEE Bay Area Nano and attend a one hour seminar by Dr. Brian Yu from Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Topic:
Bacteria are ubiquitous and play essential roles from environmental nutrient cycling to human health. Despite their importance, most bacterial diversity remains unknown. One popular method to explore unculturable microbes is through metagenomics, where microbial genomic DNA is directly sequenced and analyzed. Microfluidic technologies, when integrated into metagenomics sample preparation pipelines, facilitate throughput and provide single-cell resolution. In this talk, I will describe novel microfluidic-base experimental approaches to investigate diversity of unculturable microbial communities from the environment. Using this approach on a wide range of microbial communities from extreme environments, multiple known and novel bacterial phylogenies were extracted. I will also discuss prospects of continued integration of microfluidic systems and associated technical challenges. One of the biggest barriers for wide adoption of microfluidic systems is ease of use, requiring innovations in both on-chip and off-chip control schemes. As technical changes are addressed, the integration of microfluidic devices in more biological experiments will ultimately benefit the scientific community.

Please register on eventbrite by March 19 at 5 p.m..