The driving force for the successful miniaturization of micro/ nanofludic systems in biotechnology and chemical industry is not only the reduction of sample volumes down to nano- and picoliter sizes but also leads to remarkably improved performance, such as higher separation efficiency, shorter analyzing times, and enhanced detection sensitivities.

The emerging experimental format makes possible a quantitative readout for large numbers of experiments with a precision comparable to the macroscopic scale. Chemotaxis, diagnostics, and biofilm are areas in which the first steps are being taken toward the long-term goal of transforming the way we design and carry out experiments.

In here, we will present this concept as microfludic device or microdroplets offering a great number of opportunities in chemical and biological research. They provide a compartment in which species or reactions can be isolated, they are monodisperse and therefore suitable for quantitative studies, they offer the possibility to work with extremely small volumes, single cells, or single molecules, and are suitable for high-throughput experiments