Scientists led by Dr Andrea Serio (UK DRI at King’s) have developed a process that enables the creation of custom cell culture devices. This pipeline has been published today in PLOS Biology and is available as an open source on GitHub.
Cell culture devices, such as microwells and microfluidic chips, provide support to the physical environments for cells in the laboratory setting. These devices enable scientists to observe how cells grow and interact with each other under different test conditions.
Wet labs currently have to use commercially developed microdevices, which are expensive and don’t allow for any customisation, narrowing the scope of research that can be undertaken, or they need to have both the expertise and access to the equipment to produce their own. The latter option offers the possibility of creating bespoke designs, but access to the right equipment, expertise and sometimes cost, poses a significant barrier to entry.
To address these limitations, Dr Serio's team used their expertise in bioengineering and microfabrication coupled with commercially available low-cost instruments to create a pipeline called SOL3D (Soft-lithography on 3D vat polymerised), which allows them to design and make high-resolution customisable devices in a flexible, easy and accessible way.
