New Developments in Bioanalytical CE and Microdevice Technology

Electrophoresis is proven to be an invaluable and powerful tool in the bioanalytical research areas of genetic analysis, pharmaceutical development, and protein characterization. Advances in these areas have been forwarded by enhancement of the basic electrophoretic format such as sample focusing techniques, novel replaceable physical gels, and secondary separation methods using advantageous additives such as surfactants or chiral selective molecules in the run buffer. Further, advances in microfabrication have made it possible to implement these standard capillary electrophoresis techniques on microdevice formats, with potential improvements including high throughput, reduced cost, small sample requirements and the lure of portability. This session will focus on technical aspects of the development and improvement of CE and electrophoretic microdevice platforms for the efficient separation of DNA, proteins, and other biomolecules for enhanced bioanalysis, with an emphasis on integrated sample preparation, unique replaceable gel formulations, microchannel surface functionalization, secondary separation mechanisms, and microdevice design.