A dynamic vapor control system for nanovolume chemistry and protein crystallization

Nanovolume chemistry enabled by microsystems engineering, is an emerging paradigm where chemical experiments are performed in sub-microliter drops, dramatically reducing reagent and sample consumption, increasing processing speed and efficiency, reducing waste generation, and allowing large numbers of experiments to be performed simultaneously. Two systems are designed to control the chemistry in nanovolume samples through dynamically controlling mass transport across a liquid surface through the vapor phase. Protein crystallization experiments are perform with both system, which are readily integrated into a 24-well plate system.