Biological microfluidics

生物微流控

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-04053
• 负责人: Nicolau, Dan
• 金额: $ 4.01万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=744458
• 关键词: Biological; microfluidics

Molecular motors-driven motility of microorganisms in many biological and artificial micro-environments is an important and ubiquitous process for many applications. Microfluidics can be employed for mimicking microscopic habitats, thus allowing the intimate observation of microorganism motility, which is otherwise difficult or impossible in natural environments. The Long-Term Objective of the program is to build an atlas of biological motility at the microscale. The program will progress on three research directions. First, the program will study the biological motility in mimetic micro-environments for classes of microorganisms, with individual, e.g., bacteria, or with collective movement, e.g., fungi, as well as the impact of various taxis mechanisms. Second, the program will build predictive models of microorganism motility in microfluidics, to be used for species-specific designs of lab-on-a-chip devices, and to `reverse-engineer' into efficient computer optimization algorithms. Third, the program will demonstrate information processing devices using microorganism motility in microfluidics, for biocomputation, i.e., devices with numerical inputs and outputs, and biosimulation, i.e., devices with microorganisms performing non-numerical operations. The synergistic sharing of two main knowledge foundations, i.e., microorganisms, and microfluidics, by all Objectives, makes the program achievable despite its broad scope. Importantly, the broad scope of the program will expose the trained HQP to a vast array of disciplinary and professional approaches and to many various application areas. The benefits for Canada are comprehensive and specific. The study of biological motility in mimetic micro-environments is relevant to medical, agricultural, and environmental applications, e.g., bacterial and fungal pathogenesis in humans, animals, and plants, bacterial movement in blood vessels during sepsis, soil microenvironment. The study of biological algorithms is relevant for the development of devices applied in medical, agricultural, and environmental areas, e.g., lab-on-a-chip devices for single cell genomics, for species identification in environmental field assessments, for rapid identification of bacteria in fast spreading infectious diseases, or hospital infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or diagnostics in remote areas lacking, or having difficult access to adequate medical infrastructure, or for health monitoring of military or space personnel. The study of information processing devices can have an impact on a wide range of computer algorithms for cryptography, and accelerated drug design, on optimization of national traffic and urban planning, or on fast response in major accidents disasters. While the research focus on microorganisms offers limited scope for sex, gender and diversity considerations, much of the impact of the proposed program has significant relevance for these aspects.

在许多生物和人工微环境中，分子马达驱动的微生物运动是许多应用中的重要且普遍存在的过程。微流体可以用于模拟微观栖息地，从而允许密切观察微生物运动，这在自然环境中是困难或不可能的。该计划的长期目标是建立一个微尺度的生物运动图谱。该计划将在三个研究方向上取得进展。首先，该计划将研究模拟微环境中微生物类别的生物运动性，例如，细菌，或集体运动，例如，真菌，以及各种的士机制的影响。其次，该计划将建立微流体中微生物运动的预测模型，用于芯片实验室设备的物种特异性设计，并将“反向工程”转化为有效的计算机优化算法。第三，该计划将展示在微流体中使用微生物运动的信息处理设备，用于生物计算，即，具有数字输入和输出的设备，以及生物模拟，即，带有微生物的设备执行非数值运算。 协同分享两个主要知识基础，即：微生物，和微流体，所有的目标，使该计划实现，尽管其广泛的范围。重要的是，该计划的广泛范围将使训练有素的HQP接触到大量的学科和专业方法以及许多不同的应用领域。对加拿大的好处是全面和具体的。模拟微环境中生物运动的研究与医学，农业和环境应用有关，例如，细菌和真菌在人类、动物和植物中的发病机制，败血症期间血管中的细菌运动，土壤微环境。生物算法的研究与应用于医疗、农业和环境领域的设备的开发相关，例如，用于单细胞基因组学的芯片实验室设备，用于环境实地评估中的物种鉴定，用于快速鉴定快速传播的传染病中的细菌，或医院感染的抗药性细菌，或在缺乏或难以获得适当医疗基础设施的偏远地区进行诊断，或用于军事或空间人员的健康监测。信息处理设备的研究可以对密码学的计算机算法、加速药物设计、国家交通和城市规划的优化或重大事故灾难的快速反应产生影响。虽然对微生物的研究重点为性别，性别和多样性的考虑提供了有限的范围，但拟议计划的大部分影响与这些方面有着重要的相关性。