Inanimate objects or surfaces contaminated
with infectious agents,
referred to as fomites, play an important role in the spread of viruses,
including SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The long persistence of viruses (hours to days) on surfaces calls
for an urgent need for effective surface disinfection strategies to
intercept virus transmission and the spread of diseases. Elucidating
the physicochemical processes and surface science underlying the adsorption
and transfer of virus between surfaces, as well as their inactivation,
is important for understanding how diseases are transmitted and for
developing effective intervention strategies. This review summarizes
the current knowledge and underlying physicochemical processes of
virus transmission, in particular via fomites, and common disinfection
approaches. Gaps in knowledge and the areas in need of further research
are also identified. The review focuses on SARS-CoV-2, but discussion
of related viruses is included to provide a more comprehensive review
given that much remains unknown about SARS-CoV-2. Our aim is that
this review will provide a broad survey of the issues involved in
fomite transmission and intervention to a wide range of readers to
better enable them to take on the open research challenges.
Microscale surgery on single cells
and small organisms has enabled
major advances in fundamental biology and in engineering biological
systems. Examples of applications range from wound healing and regeneration
studies to the generation of hybridoma to produce monoclonal antibodies.
Even today, these surgical operations are often performed manually,
but they are labor intensive and lack reproducibility. Microfluidics
has emerged as a powerful technology to control and manipulate cells
and multicellular systems at the micro- and nanoscale with high precision.
Here, we review the physical and chemical mechanisms of microscale
surgery and the corresponding design principles, applications, and
implementations in microfluidic systems. We consider four types of
surgical operations: (1) sectioning, which splits a biological entity
into multiple parts, (2) ablation, which destroys part of an entity,
(3) biopsy, which extracts materials from within a living cell, and
(4) fusion, which joins multiple entities into one. For each type
of surgery, we summarize the motivating applications and the microfluidic
devices developed. Throughout this review, we highlight existing challenges
and opportunities. We hope that this review will inspire scientists
and engineers to continue to explore and improve microfluidic surgical
methods.
Microscale surgery on single cells and small organisms have enabled major advances in fundamental biology and in engineering biological systems. Examples of applications range from wound healing and regeneration studies to the generation of hybridoma to produce monoclonal antibodies. Even today, these surgical operations are often performed manually, but they are labor-intensive and lack reproducibility. Microfluidics has emerged as a powerful technology to control and manipulate cells and multicellular systems at the micro- and nanoscale with high precision. Here, we review the physical and chemical mechanisms of microscale surgery, and the corresponding design principles, applications, and implementations in microfluidic systems. We consider four types of surgical operations: 1) Sectioning, which splits a biological entity into multiple parts, 2) ablation, which destroys part of an entity, 3) biopsy, which extracts materials from within a living cell, and 4) fusion, which joins multiple entities into one. For each type of surgery, we summarize the motivating applications and the microfluidic devices developed. Throughout the review, we highlight existing challenges and opportunities. We hope that this review will inspire scientists and engineers to continue to explore and improve microfluidic surgical methods.
Sibling Bacillus subtilis colony merging phenomenon at the microscopic length scale has revealed interesting dynamics which depends on the strain and the composition of the growth medium.
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