Micro-Organospheres, including Patient-Derived Micro-Organospheres (PMOSs), apparatuses and methods of making them, and apparatuses and methods of using them. Also described herein are methods and systems for screening a patient using these Patient-Derived Micro-Organospheres, including personalized therapies.

Disclosed are a spheroid array and more particularly, a droplet trapping structure array capable of isolating all or selected spheroids into an isolated droplet array environment and the use thereof. The droplet-trapping structure array and the method and device for transferring spheroids using the same have the advantages of transferring droplets or spheroids with very high efficiency and very small variation between users by simply contacting two arrays. The spheroid transfer method and device enable mass-production of spheroid arrays in an isolated environment. In particular, the droplet trapping structure array and the spheroid transfer method can be useful for the treatment of spheroids with various reagents and the exchange of culture media.

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods to create stable emulsions with low rates of exchange of molecules between microdroplets.

In a first aspect, the present invention relates to a method of producing a library of microorganisms, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing a first fluid comprising at least one single cell, b. dispersing said first fluid comprising at least one single cell in a second fluid, thereby obtaining a plurality of single-layer microfluidic droplets, wherein at least one single- layer microfluidic droplet comprises at least one single cell, wherein the second fluid is immiscible with the first fluid, c. optionally, adding to said at least one single-layer microfluidic droplet a third fluid comprising a sensing compound, wherein the third fluid is miscible with said first fluid, and wherein the third fluid is immiscible with said second fluid, d. injecting said at least one single-layer microfluidic droplet optionally comprising the sensing compound into a fourth fluid, wherein said fourth fluid is immiscible with said second fluid, thereby obtaining at least one double-layer microfluidic droplet, e. dispensing said at least one double-layer microfluidic droplet into a culture medium based on the viability of the cell, f. incubating said culture medium, thereby obtaining said library. In a second aspect, the present invention relates to a system comprising: a. a first microfluidic chip for producing a plurality of single-layer microfluidic droplets wherein at least one single-layer microfluidic droplet comprises at least one single cell, b. a first microfluidic device for collecting said plurality of single-layer microfluidic droplets, c. a second device for adding a sensing compound into said at least one single-layer microfluidic droplet comprising at least one single cell, d. a second microfluidic chip for producing a double-layer microfluidic droplet, and e. a dispensing unit. In a third aspect, the present invention relates to the use of the method according to the first aspect of the present invention in a system according to the second aspect of the present invention.

Provided herein are systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for collecting and merging two different size droplets using a substrate comprising a plurality of trapping sites. In certain embodiments, provided herein are systems composed of a plurality of larger droplets and smaller droplets and a substrate comprising a plurality of trapping sites where each trapping site is configured to trap only one of the larger droplets and only one of the smaller droplets when the larger droplet is already present at the trapping site. In particular embodiments, the larger and/or smaller droplets are sorted prior to being contacted with the substrate to ensure they contain the desired component (e.g., cell or barcoded bead). In other embodiments, each trapping site is composed of one or multiple fluidically linked capture wells. In some embodiments, collected larger and smaller droplets are merged (e.g., via a demulsifier or electricity).

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for cell and bead processing or analysis. A method for processing a cell or bead may include subjecting a bead to conditions sufficient to change a first characteristic or set of characteristics (e.g., cell or bead size). Such a method may further include subjecting the cell or bead to conditions sufficient to change a second characteristic or set of characteristics. In some cases, crosslinks may be formed within the cell or bead.

Micro-Organosphers, including Patient-Derived Micro-Organospheres (PMOSs), apparatuses and methods of making them, and apparatuses and methods of using them. Also described herein are methods and systems for screening a patient using these Patient-Derived Micro-Organospheres, including personalized therapies.

The invention relates to the production of microalgae biomass. The microalgae contained in a suspension of water and microalgae are continuously phototrophically or mixotrophically cultivated in a cultivation module (1), which is passed multiple times by the suspension and has a gas part and a liquid part with a liquid supply (3), by supplying light from at least one artificial light source (5) and nutrients. According to the turbidity established by sensors, volume fractions of the suspension are repeatedly discharged from the cultivation module (1) for the harvest of microalgae and removed by means of a centrifuge (7). The cultivation of the microalgae occurs in an climate chamber forming the cultivation module (1), which is operated using water. Alongside a regulating of the temperature of the suspension, there also occurs a regulating of its pH value via the controlled addition of buffer ions and a regulating of the redox potential of the suspension and thereby also of its microbial contamination by controlling the light and nutrient supply, as well of a metered addition of oxygen. In addition, after the removal of microalgae, the remaining suspension is irradiated with UV light in order to kill unwanted microbial contamination before being returned into the cultivation module (1).

Provided herein are floating hydrogel droplet culture methods that enable scaling of stem cell derived alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) expansion to numbers compatible with large animal or human whole lung engineering, as well as molds for generating the droplets and methods of use thereof.

The method for analysis and cell culture comprises the following steps: generating a train (14) of ordered drops (16) in a carrier fluid (40), the train (14) of drops (16) comprising at least one culture drop (42), the culture drop (42) comprising a culture medium (50) and at least one cell (4), circulating the train (14) of drops (16) in a tube (10), incubating the train (14) of drops (16) in the tube (10), measuring at least one parameter indicative of the content of the culture drop (42) in the tube (10) at different times, recovering the culture drop (42) at one end (36) of the tube (10),
the steps being carried out in a controlled atmosphere (6).