SEPARATION OF CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS BY ELECTROTAXIS IN A MICRODEVICE

We demonstrate the use of electrotaxis (electric field-induced motion) of C.elegans in separating them in a continuous fashion based on their age. Direct (DC) and alternating (AC) electric fields inside a microchannel can be used to stimulate worms' locomotion towards the negative pole and to halt their locomotion while localizing them at desired locations in the channel, respectively. By utilizing electrotaxis in a microfluidic device with various local electric field traps, we have separated worms based on their size (age) from a mixed culture in a continuous flow manner. This can potentially automate the conventional time consuming methods to produce monocultures of worms.