Microfluidic sample preparation for nucleic acid analysis

Microfluidic sample preparation of blood and tissue for nucleic acid analysis involves multiple processing steps. Components are necessary for tissue dissociation, cell isolation, cell lysis, gene extraction, and target purification. The sample size, properties, and the level of integration influence the choice of silicon, glass, or polymer materials in the final system. In each case fluidic components can operate on a choice of fundamental principles. An integrated silicon solution providing more than 10ng of DNA from 1/spl mu/L of whole human blood is shown.