III-CXT: Enabling Automated Digital Microfluidic Biochips for Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Screening

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Low-cost, portable lab-on-a-chip systems capable of rapid automated biochemical analysis can impact a wide variety of applications including biological research (genomics, proteomics, glycomics, drug discovery), genetic analysis (medical diagnostics, newborn screening, DNA fingerprinting), in vitro biomolecule production (e.g., heparin), and biochemical sensing (pathogen detection, air and water monitoring, chemical explosives detection). Since the simultaneous coordination of even tens of droplets on the array is extremely difficult to program manually, algorithms to automatically enable the flexible coordination of hundreds or even thousands of droplets are essential. This project will develop algorithms that will be the automation enabler of digital microfluidic system technology. The droplet coordination algorithms, integrated with digital microfluidic hardware, will provide unprecedented spatial and temporal control over biochemical reactions using nanoliter droplets. An interdisciplinary team of computer scientists, biochemists, and biomedical engineers will develop algorithms for the control of devices, and apply these devices. The proposed research will develop specialized routing and scheduling algorithms for the coordination of droplets on a microfluidic biochip. General principles for designing scalable grid layouts and droplet coordination algorithms that work across different hardware implementations will be developed. The algorithms will enable robust and user friendly operation of digital microfluidics systems, offering end users flexibility and the ability to exercise precise spatial and temporal control over reactions. The proposed research will involve undergraduate and graduate students in research, and will be integrated into graduate courses taught by the PIs. Outreach activities include after-school Lego robotics activities and summer robotics camps for middle school students in collaboration with RPI's Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education.