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Researchers at Harvard's Whitesides Research Group may have found a way to make microfluidics technology much cheaper by taking advantage of the natural movement of liquid through paper. Hopefully, their work will lead to the creation of disposable diagnostic tests, which will be simple and abundant enough for use in the developing world.   Albert Folch (Credit: University of Washington) Microfluidics deals with the manipulation of liquid and one of its most promising applications is a lab-on-a-chip, which can work with much smaller fluid samples than larger devices. Existing microfluidic chips are generally made from relatively expensive materials like silicon,...

Dawn of the zombies 27 May 2006 From New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. Robin Orwant IT STARTS out like any silicon chip: intricate patterns are drawn with light and etched with acid. But this is no microprocessor destined for a computer. Instead there are minuscule chambers filled with human cells: liver cells, lung cells, fat cells, all connected by tiny channels. A nutrient fluid is pumped through the channels, flowing from one chamber to another just as blood flows from organ to organ in the body. That's the whole point. The chip, created by Michael...