Biomedical micro and nanotechnology: From lab-on-chip to building with cells

Biomedical applications of micro and nanotechnology hold tremendous promise in diagnostics, therapeutic, and tissue engineering. Lab on chip devices can be used for the rapid and sensitive detection of biological entities including cells, bacteria, proteins and DNA. These microfluidic devices can provide for the sensitive and selective detection of CD4+ T cells for detection of HIV/AIDs for global health at point of care. Significant opportunities exist for rapid point-of-care detection of nucleic acid molecules from bacterial or viral agents of infection, for food borne pathogens. Tremendous opportunities also exist in the development of cell-based bio-actuators, autonomous biological micro robots and cellular machines for a wide range of applications.