![Transcription factories in a Hela cell [from Cook PR (1999) Science 284, 1790]](../pombo.png)
| Overview | |
| Conventional microfluidic circuits take great skill to operate; for example, care must be taken to prevent air bubbles from blocking the narrow channels that run between solid plastic walls. Circuits made using 'Freestyle Fluidics' have fluid walls/ceilings that automatically reject bubbles – which just rise to the surface (Walsh EJ et al, 2017, Nat Commun 8, 816). During the first part of this YouTube movie (which runs in real time), air bubbles are deliberately injected with colored dyes into arms of a Y-shaped circuit in a 6 cm dish (and are lost automatically). During the second part, the circuit operates normally; dyes are injected into the arms to flow to the 'sink' drop at the bottom (note the sharp division between the laminar streams in the central arm of the 'Y'). |
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