Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a powerful
model organism extensively used in studies of human aging
and diseases. Despite the numerous advantages of C. elegans
as a model system, two biological characteristics may introduce
complexity and variability to most studies: 1. it exhibits differ-
ent biological features, composition and behaviors at different
developmental stages; 2. it has very high mobility. Therefore,
synchronization and immobilization of worm populations are
often required. Conventionally, these processes are implement-
ed through manual and chemical methods, which can be labo-
rious, time-consuming and of low-throughput. Here we dem-
onstrate a microfluidic design capable of simultaneously
sorting worms by size at a throughput of 97±4 worms per
minute, and allowing for worm collection or immobilization

• A microfluidic diode for sorting and immobilization of Caenorhabditis elegans