Cancer-detecting lab-on-a-chip. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a lung cancer cell (dark yellow) on a microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (dark blue) created by biomedical engineer Mehmet Toner. The lab-on-a-chip is etched with thousands of microscopic silicon pillars which are coated with antibodies that attract circulating tumour cells (CTC). CTCs are present in the blood of cancer sufferers. When a blood sample is pumped through the chip, the CTCs are isolated from the rest of the blood. The analysis of tiny amounts of fluids is known as microfluidics. Magnification: x333 when printed 10 centimetres across