Start
May 18, 2017 - 11:30
End
May 18, 2017 - 12:30
Venue
Room No. 240 1-st floor Chem. Engg. dept
Event Type
Speaker
Dr. Ashwin Lal is the Founder-CEO of Shilps Sciences Bangalore
Title
Open Droplet Microfluidics – a new approach for single cell manipulations
Abstract: Droplet microfluidics is a powerful technology for cell analysis. Nanoliter to picoliter sized droplets enable encapsulation of single cells and fluids in confined boundaries. The method has found use in gene expression analysis with RT-PCR protein & antibody secretion response to drugs bio-molecular analysis rare cell search etc. Several groups have designed microfluidics to immobilize droplets in arrays for monitoring various cellular and biochemical phenomena. Although these devices effectively arrest droplets in traps individual droplet retrieval remains a challenge. All droplets have to be retrieved in bulk which results in loss of addressability of droplets of interest. At Shilps Sciences we have developed an ‘open droplet’ microfluidic device which allows for on chip incubation / monitoring of droplets followed by individual droplet transfer for downstream applications. This device can be a useful tool for single cell assays and cell line engineering applications.Bio-sketch: Dr. Ashwin Lal is the Founder-CEO of Shilps Sciences. He did his M.Sc. Physics (Integrated) from IIT Kanpur PhD from EPFL (Switzerland) and postdoc from McGill University (Canada). He has 20 years of experience in building high tech scientific instruments. He has worked and guided projects on microfluidics scanning probe microscopes nano-positioning systems MEMS controls and cryogenics. Dr. Lal was the CTO and co-founder of i2n Technologies a Bangalore based nanotechnology company that makes indigenous scanning probe microscopes. Earlier he has also worked at Applied Materials (Singapore) and Cranes Software (Bangalore). At Shilps Sciences Dr. Lal leads the development of novel microfluidics for single cell analysis. His team is also building an Atomic Force Microscope for life science applications. Shilps Sciences is a life science startup based in Bangalore India. Founded in December 2013 the vision is to build enabling tools for upcoming and novel therapeutics. At Shilps we are building a product that automates isolation analysis and retrieval of single cells. Single cell isolation and expansion into monoclonal cell lines is an important step in gene editing cell based therapies and biologics. The yield and productivity of cell lines depends on the efficiency of screening large cell populations to identify cells with desired characteristics. Our proprietary technology ‘open droplet microfluidics’ is an intuitive platform for precise tracking and manipulation of single cells. We have started early engagements with clients to develop protocols for various cell engineering applications.