Often hidden from view, microfluidics underlies a variety of devices that are essential to our lives, from inkjet printers to glucometers for the monitoring of diabetes. Microfluidics—which refers to the technology of miniature fluidic devices and the study of fluids at submillimeter levels—is invisible to most of us because it is hidden beneath ingenious user interfaces.
In Hidden in Plain Sight (on sale April 26, 2022 from the MIT Press), Albert Folch, a leading researcher in microfluidics, describes the development and use of key microfluidic devices. He explains not only the technology but also the efforts, teams, places, and circumstances that enabled these inventions.
“I have always believed that you cannot fully grasp a concept without understanding the process of its inception,” Folch explains. “We learn about an invention through a final publication, but before that date, there has been a long road of brainstorming, adding team members, raising funds, writing grants, and submitting patents and manuscripts.”
Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies, describes Hidden in Plain Sight as “a wonderful book that throws open a world of wonders. Folch reveals deep insights into a world that is hidden but accessible through scientific inquiry.”
Folch reports, for example, that the inkjet printer was one of the first microfluidic devices invented, and traces its roots back to nineteenth-century discoveries in the behavior of fluid jets. He also describes how rapid speed microfluidic DNA sequencers have enabled the sequencing of animal, plant, and microbial species genomes; organs on chips facilitate direct tests of drugs on human tissue, leapfrogging over the usual stage of animal testing; at-home pregnancy tests are based on clever microfluidic principles; microfluidics can be used to detect cancer cells in the early stages of metastasis; and the same technology that shoots droplets of ink on paper in inkjet printers enables 3D printers to dispense layers of polymers. More than 100 color illustrations show readers amazing images of microfluids under the microscope. “This book is a visual and intellectual treat,” Mukherjee writes.
Folch tells the stories behind these devices in an engaging style, accessible to nonspecialists. “I intend this book for people with some background and interest in science but no background in microfluidics—someone who might not even have heard about the term microfluidics. If the book raises the awareness of microfluidics among a wider audience, I will have done my job,” Folch says.
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About the author:
Albert Folch is Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. He is the author of the widely used textbook Introduction to BioMEMS and other books.
Learn more about the book on the MIT Press website: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/hidden-plain-sight-1