Design, Fabrication, and Applications of Biologically Inspired Microfluidic Devices as Living System Models

Abstract. The development of an efficient in vitro device to process various living systems including animals and plants would represent a major milestone in biological science and engineering. Here we propose the design and manipulation of microfluidic devices mimicking the complex environments for living systems such as yeasts, microalgaes, and tissues. A simple microfluidic-based in vitro cell culture device containing a cell culture channel and an air channel was developed to investigate physical pressure stress-induced behavior in yeasts and microalgae. The shapes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii could be controlled under compressive stress. The lipid production by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was significantly enhanced by compressive stress in the microfluidic device when compared to cells cultured without compressive stress. These microfluidic-based in vitro devices can be used as a tool for quantitative analysis of living systems under complex physical and chemical conditions.