Workshop Organizer: Jaydev P. Desai, PhD, Drexel University.

Speakers:
Ari Brooks, M.D. (Drexel University College of Medicine, USA)
Karl Bohringer, Ph.D. (University of Washington, USA)
Jaydev P. Desai, Ph.D. (Drexel University, USA)
Eniko Enikov, Ph.D. (The University of Arizona, USA)
Robert D. Howe, Ph.D. (Harvard University, USA)
Pasi Kallio, Ph.D. (Tampere University of Technology, Finland) http://www.tut.fi/
Bradley Nelson, Ph.D. (ETH, Zurich, Switzerland)
Richard Satava, M.D. (DARPA, USA)
Yu Sun, Ph.D. (University of Toronto, Canada)
Tamio Tanikawa, Ph.D. (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan)

Workshop Topics:
1. Overview
    Challenges and Application areas
    Challenges in Transgenesis
2. Manipulators for cell handling
3. Force feedback interface and Human factors studies
4. Micro-actuators for cell manipulation and sensing
5. Manual approaches - Challenges and Outcomes
6. Cell property characterization
7. Automation for high speed injection

Abstract

Bio-surgery on individual cells, ordered cell arrays or embryos will be the platform for the next generation of genetic manipulation. Manipulations may include correctional interventions during early stages of fetal development, treatment of diseased areas in the body without the required resection or organ transplantation, and cell specific delivery of a wide range of other molecular and nanotechnology applications. To achieve bio-surgery reliably and accurately, operators must have accurate haptic ("feel") and visual feedback from the cell during intracellular manipulations. Bio-surgeons can use a haptic and visual feedback system to manipulate an individual cell or array of cells in order to standardize outcomes of cellular surgical procedures. Further advancement of this technology will lead to reproducible results of gene injection at specific target sites within a cell, embryo, organism or organ. Potential applications of this technology include cellular repair by site-specific delivery of repair enzymes, organelle interventions that would effect post translational modification of proteins or respiratory rates in mitochondria, genetic engineering of stem cells for organogenesis, and genetic engineering within specific organs to combat genetic deficiencies or produce supra-physiologic organ function.

The workshop is intended for Biomedical Engineers, MEMS and Nanotechnology disciplines, Surgeons interested in Gene therapy, Biologists, etc.