One of the active areas of LOAC research includes ways to diagnose and manage the AIDS virus. Today, about 40 million people in the world are infected with the AIDS virus, of which only 1.3 million people receive anti-retroviral care. About 90% of people with HIV have never been tested for this disease. Measuring the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes in people’s blood is a correct and reliable way to diagnose a sick person and follow the disease process.

Currently, flow cytometry is the prominent standard for CD4 count, but flow cytometry is a complex technology that is not available in most developing countries due to the need for experts and expensive equipment. But recently, a cytometer was created with a price equivalent to only $5.

• Applications In Molecular Biology In Europe

One of the important applications of lab-on-a-chip in European research companies is molecular biology. For DNA/RNA amplification and detection, the lab-on-a-chip offers high gains in detection speed while maintaining the same sensitivity.

Because DNA amplification using PCR relies on thermal cycling, the ability to perform high-speed thermal transfers at the microscale explains why the lab on a chip has become the fastest way to perform PCR. Lab on a chip provides a whole new world of opportunities for DNA and RNA sequencing.

• Applications In Proteomics In Europe

In the field of proteomics, a lab on a chip provides the opportunity to perform protein analysis while integrating all steps within a chip: extraction from cells, separation by electrophoresis, digestion, and analysis using mass spectrometry.

These integrated processes demonstrate the ability to greatly reduce protein analysis from hours (in a macroscopic system) to minutes with lab-on-a-chip devices. They also show great potential for protein crystallization, an important area of research that reveals the three-dimensional structure of a protein.

• Applications In Cell Biology In Europe

Cell biology is another important field of lab-on-a-chip that European companies are actively researching. Because micro channels are the size of cells, lab-on-a-chip research soon focused on cell biology. The lab-on-a-chip demonstrates the ability to control cells at the single-cell level while dealing with large numbers of them in seconds. At the micro-scale level, current switching can be very fast, down to only tens of milliseconds.

For example, a specific cell, such as a fluorescently made cancer cell, can be identified and isolated using high-throughput antibodies. There are several other applications for lab-on-chips in cell biology, including micro-patch clamping, control of stem cell differentiation, high-speed flow cytometer, sperm sorting, and cell sorting in general.