FloChiP, a new tool optimizing gene-regulation studies

The FloChIP microfluidic cartridge. Credit: Ricardo Dainese (EPFL) - EPFL scientists have developed FloChip, a new microfluidic take on the widely used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) technique. By automating and cutting the cost of ChIP and sequential-ChIP, FloChIP has the potential to become a widely used tool for the study of chromatin biology and gene regulation. In the cell, proteins often interact directly with DNA to regulate and influence the expression of genes. For this to happen, proteins need to travel into the cell's nucleus where the DNA is tightly twisted and packed as chromatin, which forms the well-known chromosomes. When the protein reaches its target location, chromatin unwinds to reveal the section of DNA that the protein will interact with. This interaction is obviously of great interest to biologists as it lies at the heart of multiple important cell functions or even malfunctions that lead to disease.