Non-stop wine machine

Professor Daniel Attinger from Iowa State university has developed a micro winery on a chip, which continously produces wine at a rate of one millitre per hour. The miniature device is being developed to help winemakers control fermentation in the cellar. Attinger’s device works on compartments. Grape juice runs down a main tube, with yeast feeding into it through a thin film. When the grape juice reaches the yeasts, they absorb the sugar and give off alcohol and CO2 through the membrane. According to Attinger, this happens quickly because of the small space, which makes rapid testing possible.