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Shiny, Electronic, and the Size of Your Thumbnail

Jul 30, 2008

Caltech researchers have made a tiny microfluidics-based microscope that sits on a light-sensing chip identical to those found in digital cameras, reports MIT's Tech Review. The images it takes can then be combined with a processor similar to those found in PDAs, enabling high-throughput imaging in biology labs. The researchers estimate that their microscope could be mass-produced at a cost of $10 each -- and one day, doctors could carry them in their pockets.

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.