October 5, 2009
Bioengineering Graduate Group Affliliate Michel Maharbiz and BioE grad student Daniel Cohen have pioneered a new technique to control gene expression in two dimensions over time, using a modified inkjet printer.
Maharbiz, a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley, and his group used a commercial-grade Epson R280 inkjet printer to print patterns of lactose and glucose onto an agar gel culture of E. coli, located on a compact disc, in order to regulate the pathway called the lac operon. Using an inkjet printer to control cellular behavior could give researchers a versatile, low-cost, and open-source tool for a variety of applications in controlling gene expression.
Read more at Phsyorg.com or PLOS One.