Microfluidic device for bacterial genome extraction and analysis

Although single molecule DNA manipulation and analysis techniques are emerging, methods for whole genome extraction from single cells, genomic length DNA handling and analytics is still to be developed. Here we present a microfabricated device to address some of these needs. This microfluidic chip is suitable for culturing bacteria and subsequently retrieve their genetic content. As a next step, the extracted DNA can be introduced in a nanostructured segment of the chip for precise handling, stretching and analysis. We hope that similar microdevices can be useful in studying genetic aspects of the cell lifecycle in a variety of organisms.