American University of Barbados School of Medicine, Wildey, Bridgetown, Barbados.

Department of Pathology, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India- 226003

Department of Pathology, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India- 226003

Microfluidic technologies have become a paradigm shift in the field of biological and biomedical research, enabling the specific control of fluids at the nano and picoliter levels. This review identifies the key role microfluidics serves in two fast-growing fields Single-Cell Genomics (SCG) and Organ-on-a-Chip (OOC) modelling. To achieve high-throughput isolation and barcoding of single cells, SCG uses microfluidic systems, including droplet microfluidics, to overcome cellular heterogeneity, hidden by bulk assays. At the same time, OOC systems use microfluidics to reproduce physical and biochemical microenvironments that are fundamental to human organs and which offer improved models of drug discovery and tailored medicine compared to traditional two-dimensional culture. We speak of fundamental technological developments such as the essential bonding of SCG analysis directly on OOC systems to become high-resolution readouts. More specifically, we share a new research horizon in India, complemented by efforts that seek to establish microfluidics-based, cost-effective and region-differentiated solutions to local health issues. Nevertheless, even with the difficulties in standardisation and resource allocation, the merging of microfluidics, SCG and OOC will enable faster scientific discovery and clinical translation on an international scale.