Microfluidic hotspots in bacteria research: A review of soil and related advances

Soil science is an inherently diverse and multidisciplinary subject that cannot develop further without the continuous introduction and promotion of emerging technologies. One such technology that is widely used in biomedicine and similar research fields, microfluidics, poses significant benefits for soil research; however, this technology is still underutilized in the field. Microfluidics offers unparalleled opportunities in soil bacterial cultivation, observation, and manipulation when compared to conventional approaches to these tasks. This review focuses on the use of microfluidics for bacteria research and, where possible, pulls from examples in the literature where the technologies were used for soil related research. The review also provides commentary on the use of microfluidics for soil bacteria research and discusses the key challenges researchers face when implementing this technology. We believe that microfluidic chips and their associated auxiliary technologies provide a prime inroad into the future of soil science research.