Observing brain diseases in real time

15. An innovative tool allows researchers to observe protein aggregation throughout the life of a worm. The development of these aggregates, which play a role in the onset of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, can now be monitored automatically and in real time. This breakthrough was made possible by isolating worms in tiny microfluidic chambers developed at EPFL. For rent: 32 individual rooms for a combined surface area of 4cm², heating and food included! Biologists and microfluidics specialists at EPFL have joined forces and developed a highly innovative research tool: a 2cm by 2cm 'chip' with 32 independent compartments, each of which is designed to hold a nematode - a widely used worm in the research world. The device is described in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration . "Unlike conventional cultures in petri dishes, this device lets us monitor individual worms rather than a population of them," said Laurent Mouchiroud, from EPFL's Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology.