Microfluidic platform for bilayer experimatation from a research tooltowards drug screening

The aim of this thesis, which is the development of a microfluidic platform for bilayer experimentation with the potential for drug screening on ion channels, is introduced in this chapter. After a short presentation of the field of drug screening, an outline of this thesis is given, together with a brief summary of the different chapters

Modes of innovation and responsibility within regional innovation systems:Reflections from the Twente region

Increasing public investments in distributed platform infrastructures have created new opportunities for economic growth and social welfare but at the same time have been associated with growing societal distrust in the power of science to solve societal problems. The concept of Responsible Research & Innovation has been advanced as providing mechanisms to recouple science and society to ensure that research and innovation continues to uphold its duties to society. In this paper, we explore the extent to which it is possible to identify repertoires of responsible innovation behaviour within extant research and innovation networks. We distinguish between two kinds of regional innovation network, those based on science and technology innovation, and those based on doing, using, inventing innovation in the eHealth sector where there are substantive societal concerns regarding responsibility and innovation. We contend that it appears that the coupling of patients to innovation networks through their prior association with innovators (e.g. as patients) affects the scope for responsibility. We therefore contend that more attention is required for understanding the dynamics of citizen-innovator coupling in regional innovation networks if responsibility is to become a more common property of these systems

Integrated microfluidic biosensing platform for simultaneous confocal microscopy and electrophysiological measurements on bilayer lipid membranes and ion channels

Combining high-resolution imaging and electrophysiological recordings is key for various types of experimentation on lipid bilayers and ion channels. Here, we propose an integrated biosensing platform consisting of a microfluidic cartridge and a dedicated chip-holder to conduct such dual measurements on suspended lipid bilayers, in a user-friendly manner. To illustrate the potential of the integrated platform, we characterize lipid bilayers in terms of thickness and fluidity while simultaneously monitoring single ion channel currents. For that purpose, POPC lipid bilayers are supplemented with a fluorescently-tagged phospholipid (NBD-PE, 1% mol) for Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) measurements and a model ion channel (gramicidin, 1 nM). These combined measurements reveal that NBD-PE has no effect on the lipid bilayer thickness while gramicidin induces thinning of the membrane. Furthermore, the presence of gramicidin does not alter the lipid bilayer fluidity. Surprisingly, in lipid bilayers supplemented with both probes, a reduction in gramicidin open probability and lifetime is observed compared to lipid bilayers with gramicidin only, suggesting an influence of NBD-PE on the gramicidin ion function. Altogether, our proposed microfluidic biosensing platform in combination with the herein presented multi-parametric measurement scheme paves the way to explore the interdependent relationship between lipid bilayer properties and ion channel function

Constructive Technology Assessment: STS for and with Technology Actors

Over the years, STS has more and more moved from a predominant analytical gaze to engaging with the very fields and processes it is concerned with. At the University of Twente, STePS researchers have early on embarked on this road, with a key strand having evolved under the heading of Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA). While the core ideas were developed 30 years ago (Schot and Rip, 1997; Rip et al., 1995; Rip et al., 1987), the practical approaches and specific aims have clearly developed over time and – we expect – will continue to do so in the future. In what follows, we want to briefly explain the key characteristics of the approach, report on some recent projects and discuss our current attempts to move CTA from the field level to the work floor of researchers and technology actors, and close with an outlook on further directions for developing the approach

Building an Agenda for Socio-Technical Integration Approaches

Collaborative approaches for supporting the consideration of societal and ethical implications and contexts in the ongoing work of research and innovation actors have proliferated throughout the Science and Technologies Studies community over the last 10 years. These developments present an opportunity to develop a common agenda of research. This chapter reports on two recent exercises that brought together socio-technical integration scholars and practitioners in order to scope out and reflect upon what such an agenda might entail. After summarising a handful of recurrent methodological, conceptual and normative themes that were articulated in both exercises, it briefly situates these within the literature and identifies some ‘next steps’ for continued agenda-building