In-depth analysis of biocatalysts by microfluidics: An emerging source of data for machine learning

Nowadays, the vastly increasing demand for novel biotechnological products is supported by the continuous development of biocatalytic applications which provide sustainable green alternatives to chemical processes. The success of a biocatalytic application is critically dependent on how quickly we can identify and characterize enzyme variants fitting the conditions of industrial processes. While miniaturization and parallelization have dramatically increased the throughput of next-generation sequencing systems, the subsequent characterization of the obtained candidates is still a limiting process in identifying the desired biocatalysts. Only a few commercial microfluidic systems for enzyme analysis are currently available, and the transformation of numerous published prototypes into commercial platforms is still to be streamlined. This review presents the state-of-the-art, recent trends, and perspectives in applying microfluidic tools in the functional and structural analysis of biocatalysts. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of available technologies, their reproducibility and robustness, and readiness for routine laboratory use. We also highlight the unexplored potential of microfluidics to leverage the power of machine learning for biocatalyst development.

High-Throughput Protein Crystallization in an Integrated Droplet-Based Microfluidic Platform

We present an integrated droplet-based microfluidic platform for high-throughput protein crystallization experimentation. The device consists of commercially available micro-junctions and PFA tubing assembled for different functions: droplet generation, incubation, and observation. Herein, we describe a complete methodology to generate hundreds of droplets with controlled properties (i.e., size, generation frequency, and composition). Therefore, multiple trials can be carried out under controlled experimental conditions for the screening and optimization of protein crystallization conditions.