Blood on a cancer-detecting lab-on-a-chip. This lab-on-a-chip was created by biomedical engineer Mehmet Toner. The surface is etched with thousands of microscopic silicon pillars which are coated with antibodies. These attract circulating tumour cells (CTC) from blood that is pumped through it. CTCs are present in the blood of cancer sufferers but are at concentrations too low for standard testing methods. If left undetected, CTCs can start new tumours in other parts of the body. The lab-on-a-chip could one day offer a reliable, accurate and cheap method for early disease detection. Photographed in 2009.