CAREER: Multiplex microfluidic and automation tools for neurogenetics and live imaging

长期目标是开发和使用强大的微流控和自动化工具来了解调控线虫神经元和其他组织之间生化通讯的遗传路径。微流控技术是研究线虫等小型生物的理想选择，因为它具有相应的长度尺度以及集成化和自动化的可能性。Career项目的研究目标是设计一个用于活体动态过程的实时成像的微流控系统，完成自动图像处理，并识别基因在神经元生化通信中的作用。该系统将显著提高模型生物体内活体成像实验的吞吐量和准确性。它简化并自动化了费力手动的显微镜程序，在某些情况下使一些原本不可能进行的实验得以进行，并减少了这些实验中的噪音和伪影。图像分析算法将提供具有大吞吐量的定量数据，以便进行良好的统计。这种方法是创新的，因为这里开发的技术极大地提高了当前分析工具的能力和吞吐量，使目前尚未进行的关键生物学实验成为可能。此外，这项技术也广泛适用于其他生物系统，并可能导致相关疾病的新疗法。

0954578LuThe long-term objective is to develop and use powerful microfluidic and automation tools to understand genetic pathways that regulate the biochemical communications between neurons and other tissues in C. elegans. Microfluidics is ideal for studies of small organisms such as C. elegans because of the relevant length scales and the possibility of integration and automation. The research objective of the CAREER project is to engineer a microfluidic system for live imaging of dynamic processes in vivo, to accomplish automated image processing, and to identify roles of genes in neuronal biochemical communications.This system will significantly increase the throughput and accuracy of in vivo live imaging experiments in model organisms. It streamlines and automates the painstakingly manual procedure of microscopy, in some cases enables some experiments that are otherwise impossible to do, and reduces the noise and artifacts in these experiments. The image analysis algorithms will provide quantitative data with large throughput to allow good statistics. The approach is innovative because the technologies developed here dramatically increase the capabilities and throughput of current assay tools, enabling key biological experiments that are not currently performed. Furthermore, the technology is broadly applicable to other biological systems and could potentially lead to new therapeutics for related diseases.