PicoShells: Hollow Hydrogel Microparticles for High-Throughput Screening of Clonal Libraries.

Microfluidics enables the creation of monodisperse, micron-scale aqueous droplets, or other compartments. These droplets serve as picolitre-volume reaction chambers which can be utilized for various chemical assays or reactions. Here we describe the use of a microfluidic droplet generator to encapsulate single cells within hollow hydrogel microparticles called PicoShells.

Enabling Clonal Analyses of Yeast in Outer Space by Encapsulation and Desiccation in Hollow Microparticles.

Studying microbes at the single-cell level in space can accelerate human space exploration both via the development of novel biotechnologies and via the understanding of cellular responses to space stressors and countermeasures. High-throughput technologies for screening natural and engineered cell populations can reveal cellular heterogeneity and identify high-performance cells. Here, we present a method to desiccate and preserve microbes in nanoliter-scale compartments, termed PicoShells, which are microparticles with a hollow inner cavity.

High-throughput selection of cells based on accumulated growth and division using PicoShell particles.

Production of high-energy lipids by microalgae may provide a sustainable energy source that can help tackle climate change. However, microalgae engineered to produce more lipids usually grow slowly, leading to reduced overall yields. Unfortunately, culture vessels used to select cells based on growth while maintaining high biomass production, such as well plates, water-in-oil droplet emulsions, and nanowell arrays, do not provide production-relevant environments that cells experience in scaled-up cultures (e.

Rapid Detection and Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2-Spike Mutation-Mediated Microthrombosis.

Activation of endothelial cells following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is thought to be the primary driver for the increasingly recognized thrombotic complications in coronavirus disease 2019 patients, potentially due to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein binding to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Vaccination therapies use the same Spike sequence or protein to boost host immune response as a protective mechanism against SARS-CoV-2 infection. As a result, cases of thrombotic events are reported following vaccination.