New Pocket-Sized Laboratory May Yield Bigger Biofuels Results
Through a new pocket-sized laboratory at Harvard University, researchers can discover new biofuels resources faster, cheaper and more energy-efficiently.
Instead of spending years researching new biofuels resources, Treehugger is reporting that a new “pocket-sized” laboratory at Harvard University can now achieve better results in a matter of months. And it’s not just faster than your big, bulky, “run-of-the-mill” laboratories, but it’s cheaper and more energy-efficient too. In what is remarkably described as a mini-lab smaller than an iPod Nano, a new “microfluidic sorting device” is poised to revolutionize the biofuels industry as a means of supplementing wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.
Here’s how this mini laboratory works:
1) As drops of microscopic fluid pass through the system, a laser “reads” the fluorescence level inside an individual cell contained within the drop.
2) The higher the fluorescence level, the higher the cell’s activity and, in turn, the more optimal it is for biofuels.
3) Drops with the higher levels of fluorescence are passed into a “keeper” tube while others are sent through a second tube into the “discard” pile, so to speak.
Not only is all of this happening within a lab that is smaller than an iPod Nano, but it is happening at a rate 1,000 times faster than regular robotic sorting systems currently used in biofuels research.
Though located at Harvard University, this new microfluidic sorting device is a team effort that also includes MIT, the Universite de Strasbourg, YNano LLc, the National Science Foundation, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and the Agence National de la Recherche.
For a deeper understanding, check out Treehugger’s post, which includes a video demo of the new mini lab. Though a pretty primitive graphic demonstration, the video does its job of making the general gist of the technology crystal clear.
Recent Comments