MICROFLUIDIC CHEMOSTAT AND A METHOD TO PREVENT BIOFILM FORMATION WITH SAME

摘要

A chemostat (Figure 1) that includes a growth chamber having a plurality of compartments, where each of the compartments may be fluidly isolated from the rest of the growth chamber by one or more actuatable valves. The chemostat may also include a nutrient supply-line to supply growth medium to the growth chamber (s), and an output port to remove fluids from the growth chamber. Also, presented is a method to prevent biofilm formation in a growth chamber of the chemostat. The method may include the step of adding a lytic agent to an isolated portion of the growth chamber and re-uniting the isolated portion with the rest of the growth chamber.