We report a novel, high throughput magnetic-tweezers based 3D microchannel electroporation system capable of transfecting 40,000 cells/cm2 on a single-chip for gene therapy, regenerative medicine and intracellular detection of target mRNA for screening cellular heterogeneity. A single cell or an ordered array of individual cells are remotely guided by programmable magnetic fields to poration sites with high (> 90%) cell alignment efficiency to enable various transfection reagents to be delivered simultaneously into the cells. The present technique, in contrast to the conventional vacuum based approach, is significantly gentler on the cellular membrane yielding > 90% cell viability and, moreover, allows transfected cells to be transported for further analysis. Illustrating the versatility of the system, the GATA2 molecular beacon was delivered into leukemia cells to detect the regulation level of the GATA2 gene that is associated with the initiation of leukemia. The uniform delivery and a sharp contrast of fluorescence intensity between GATA2 positive and negative cells demonstrate key aspects of the platform for gene transfer, screening and detection of targeted intracellular markers in living cells.

We investigate the non-linear dynamics of superparamagnetic beads moving around the periphery of patterned magnetic disks in the presence of an in-plane rotating magnetic field. Three different dynamical regimes are observed in experiments, including (1) phase-locked motion at low driving frequencies, (2) phase-slipping motion above the first critical frequency f c1 , and (3) phase-insulated motion above the second critical frequency f c2 . Experiments with Janus particles were used to confirm that the beads move by sliding rather than rolling. The rest of the experiments were conducted on spherical, isotropic magnetic beads, in which automated particle position tracking algorithms were used to analyze the bead dynamics. Experimental results in the phase-locked and phaseslipping regimes correlate well with numerical simulations. Additional assumptions are required to predict the onset of the phase-insulated regime, in which the beads are trapped in closed orbits; however, the origin of the phase-insulated state appears to result from local magnetization defects. These results indicate that these three dynamical states are universal properties of bead motion in non-uniform oscillators. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx

A major challenge to achieving positional control of fluid borne submicron sized objects is regulating their Brownian fluctuations. We present a magnetic-field-based trap that regulates the thermal fluctuations of superparamagnetic beads in suspension. Local domain-wall fields originating from patterned magnetic wires, whose strength and profile are tuned by weak external fields, enable the bead trajectories within the trap to be managed and easily varied between strong confinements and delocalized spatial excursions that are described remarkably well by simulations.

We present results of in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments on electrochemically formed ZnO nanostructured films during their growth on to Au substrates. This allows the evolution of texture to be monitored throughout the deposition process. The results are in good agreement with previous in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements of growth kinetics and indicate that strong preferred orientation, which is not evident from the microstructure, develops early in the growth process.