Microfluidics-Based DNA Detection

Nucleic acid detection has received increased attention because it enables the diagnosis of body anomalies and diseases. Traditional approaches, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), have been the gold standard for such detection. However, as a conventional benchtop test, it requires a series of steps to extract and purify the DNAs before conducting the assay and delicate protocols and fully trained operators with cumbersome instrumentations, e.g. Centrifuge, vortex, thermal cycler, and fluorescence reader for signal generation and quantification. The complexity and cost have made them impractical for general use. This challenge has motivated the pursuit of miniaturized and automated settings of microfluidic platforms to carry out such detection. In this chapter, we discuss the recent advances of microfluidic platforms on applications such as DNA extraction and detections using DNA separation and affinity probes. Overall, with the portability, cost-effectiveness, energy efficiency, and user-friendly interface, we envision the success of such microfluidic DNA detection will provide a revolutionary solution readily available for point-of-care detection of DNA.