Insight
Nature 442, 394-402 (27 July 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature05062; Published online 26 July 2006
Control and detection of chemical reactions in microfluidic systems
Andrew J. deMello1
Abstract
Recent years have seen considerable progress in the development of microfabricated systems for use in the chemical and biological sciences. Much development has been driven by a need to perform rapid measurements on small sample volumes. However, at a more primary level, interest in miniaturized analytical systems has been stimulated by the fact that physical processes can be more easily controlled and harnessed when instrumental dimensions are reduced to the micrometre scale. Such systems define new operational paradigms and provide predictions about how molecular synthesis might be revolutionized in the fields of high-throughput synthesis and chemical production.
