Sorting biomolecules with microdevices

Micro- and nanofabrication techniques have provided an unprecedented opport unity to create a designed world in which separation and fractionation tech nologies which normally occur on the macroscopic scale can be optimized by designing structures which utilize the basic physics or the process, or new processes can be realized Dy building structures which normally do not exi st without external design. Since microfabrication is exceedingly sophistic ated in its development, it is possible to design and construct highly crea tive microdevices which allow one to probe specific aspects of biological o bjects. We give examples of uses of micro- and nanofabrication which, as op posed to simply shrinking the size of the vessels or tubes used in macrosco pic lab environments, utilize our understanding of the physics of the proce ss to take advantage of fabrication technologies.