Building a living cell from scratch using microfluidics (MEP)

Short description:
To shed light on the fundamental blueprint of a cell and get a better understanding of the governing principles of cellular life, we are aiming to build a synthetic cell from the bottom-up using molecular building blocks. Towards this end, we use a microfluidic technology, Octanol-assisted Liposome Assembly, to produce cell-sized liposomes. This project will focus on the expansion of this microfluidic technology in order to obtain a lab-on-a-chip system to establish a cycle of growing and dividing liposomes, mimicking a continuous life cycle of a living cell. In this experimental and multidisciplinary project, you will gain experience working in a wetlab, learn how to operate a microfluidic setup, and perform fluorescence microscopy-based experiments.

Techniques/methods applied in the project:
Microfluidics, fluorescence microscopy, image analysis

Relevant publication for the project:
Deshpande, S., Caspi, Y., Meijering, A. et al. Octanol-assisted liposome assembly on chip. Nat Commun 7, 10447 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10447 

Contact
Bert Van Herck (B.VanHerck@tudelft.nl) and Prof. Dr. Gijsje Koenderink (G.H.Koenderink@tudelft.nl)