Droplet bilayers

1. A method of making an amphiphilic bilayer using aqueous micro-droplets in a water-immiscible solvent, wherein immediately surrounding each droplet is a monolayer of amphiphiles, comprising:

juxtapositioning the droplets with a focused laser beam such that the monolayers merge to create a bilayer of the amphiphiles between the droplets.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the droplets are restrained in two dimensions by one or more solid surfaces or density-differential interfaces.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser beam juxtaposes the droplets by localized heating or by refractive index mismatch.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is mineral oil, hexadecane, squalene, decane, dodecane, or decanol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amphiphiles are phospholipids, surfactants, or physiological lipids.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the droplets are arrayed on a surface that is polystyrene, other plastic surface, fluorinated oil, or a silanized surface.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the antecedent step of arraying the droplets on a surface by contact printing, ink-jet type printing or microextrusion.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the amphiphile is a physiological lipid.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the amphiphile is physiological lipid that is 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PC), 1,2-didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-[phospho-rac-(1-glycerol)] (PG), 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DphPC), 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), or N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)-1,2-dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (NBD-PE)

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the amphiphile is a physiological lipid that is 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPhPC).

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent is mineral oil and the amphiphile is a physiological lipid.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent is mineral oil and the amphiphile is a physiological lipid that is 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PC), 1,2-didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-[phospho-rac-(1-glycerol)] (PG), 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DphPC), 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), or N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)-1,2-dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (NBD-PE).

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent is mineral oil and the amphiphile is a physiological lipid that is 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPhPC).

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent is decanol and the amphiphile is a surfactant.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent is hexadecane and the amphiphile is 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPhPC).

16. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the droplets contains a protein or peptide that inserts into the bilayer.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the droplets contains a protein or peptide that inserts into the bilayer, forming a transmembrane protein or peptide, and the method further comprises detecting function of the transmembrane protein or peptide.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the droplets contains a protein or peptide that inserts into the bilayer, forming a transmembrane protein or peptide which forms a pore, and the method further comprises detecting function of the transmembrane protein or peptide by detecting transport through the pore.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the droplets contains a protein or peptide that inserts into the bilayer, forming a transmembrane protein or peptide, and the method further comprises detecting function of the transmembrane protein or peptide, wherein one of the droplets contains a drug which affects the transmembrane proteins.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the droplets contains a protein or peptide that inserts into the bilayer, forming a transmembrane protein or peptide, and the method further comprises detecting function of the transmembrane protein or peptide in a high-throughput screening format.