Droplet microfluidics on analysis of pathogenic microbes for wastewater-based epidemiology

Yangteng Ou; Shixiang Cao; Jing Zhang; Weiliang Dong; Zhugen Yang; Ziyi Yu

doi:10.1016/j.trac.2021.116333

Droplet microfluidics on analysis of pathogenic microbes for wastewater-based epidemiology

Trends Analyt Chem. 2021 Oct:143:116333. doi: 10.1016/j.trac.2021.116333. Epub 2021 May 18.

Authors

Yangteng Ou^{1

2}, Shixiang Cao³, Jing Zhang¹, Weiliang Dong³, Zhugen Yang⁴, Ziyi Yu¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhu South Road, Nanjing, 211816, PR China.
² Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
³ State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhu South Road, Nanjing, 211816, PR China.
⁴ School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, UK.

Abstract

Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microbes have posed a major health issue for the public, such as the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. In recent years, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is emerging as an effective and unbiased method for monitoring public health. Despite its increasing importance, the advancement of WBE requires more competent and streamlined analytical platforms. Herein we discuss the interactions between WBE and droplet microfluidics, focusing on the analysis of pathogens in droplets, which is hard to be tackled by traditional analytical tools. We highlight research works from three aspects, namely, quantitation of pathogen biomarkers in droplets, single-cell analysis in droplets, and living cell biosensors in droplets, as well as providing future perspectives on the synergy between WBE and droplet microfluidics.

Keywords: Droplet microfluidics; Microbiology; Wastewater-based epidemiology.

Publication types

Review