Chemotaxis assays for human sperm on microfluidic devices

Microchips based on microfluidic technologies provide one of the most suitable methods for rapidly mixing and separating samples, as well as handling small amounts of sample and reagent, and integrating components for reaction and detection. With these advantages, microfluidic-based microchips have been applied to several areas of biological research such as analysis or separation of DNA, proteins, and cells. Moreover, many researchers are studying the separation or culture of living cells using microfluidic-based microchips, since the microenvironment of the microchip can be formulated to more closely resemble in vivoconditions, such as those required for fertilization and development, than conditions in a culture dish. Moreover understanding how and when sperm cells are attracted to the egg could have profound effects on reproduction and contraception.