Using microfluidics to study active biological suspensions.

GASTÓN L. MIÑO

La Plata

Congreso; XIV Reunión sobre Recientes Avances en Física de Fluidos y sus Aplicaciones; 2016

Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos. Univ. Nac. de La Plata

Over the last decades, there has been a concentrated effort to understand the behavior and physics on active suspensions. These suspensions contain particles, both artificial and biological, that have the capacity for self-propulsion. An active particle or swimmer can transform chemical, magnetic, or electric energy into motion and thereby produce a variation or modification in the system. When we study an active biological suspension, two types of approaches can be made: one is related with the effect that active particles produce on the system, and the other one takes into account how the environment affects the motility of an active particle. During this discussion, we will cover the aspects of these two approaches. Firstly, presenting examples on how this ability to swim can modify the physical-chemical properties of a fluid (such as viscosity, diffusion and transport) in comparison with passive particle suspensions. Secondly, we will examine how variations in an environment (e. g. boundaries conditions, flows, and taxis conditions) can modify microorganism movement.