Quantitative biology on cells using microfluidic arrays. Charles Baroud (Polytechnique & Institut Pasteur). Biophysics Seminar ESPCI-ENS.

Quantitative measurements on single cells are typically performed through flow cytometry, which yields high throughput data but only at a single instant on individualised cells. This leaves many unmet needs, such as following cell fate in time, looking at interactions between cells, or relating the cell behavior with its position within a tissue. In this seminar I will describe a microfluidic platform that answers these needs for a wide range of cell types and culture conditions. I will first describe the platform and the underlying fluid physics. Then I will show how it can be used for cytometry, on 3D mammalian cell cultures, or for quantitative microbiology. Finally I will show some preliminary biological results that we are obtaining from this approach.