Microfluidics: a boon for biological research

Microfluidics is an emerging new interdisciplinary field that deals with the manipulation of fluids at the microscale and nanoscale. Having its origins in other areas of science and technology, microfluidics is slowly beginning to make radical changes in various fields of biological sciences. The exclusivity of fluid behaviour at the microscale offers a large number of advantages in biological research such as miniaturization of assays, faster sample processing and rapid detection. This article provides a concise overview of the applications of microfluidics technology in some of the major disciplines of biological research. Furthermore, it also mentions the hurdles that microfluidics is facing and the solutions that are envisaged for the future to make it a widely available, reliable and cost-effective technology