ForewordIn this first issue ofIntegrative Biologywe are introducing a column that provides a perspective on topics at the interface of biology and engineering. Six articles per year, written by outstanding young scientists or established leaders in their fields, will cover emerging tools for biologists, tools that facilitate new types of experiments that most biologists are currently not able to do. The focus will be on technologies and approaches (both experimental and theoretical) that are readily accessible and sufficiently robust for any biology lab to apply.In this first column entitled ‘Microfluidic high-throughput screening’, Sebastian Maerkl reviews microfluidic approaches for performing high-throughput screening experiments on-chip. This rapidly growing area promises to revolutionize the way biological screens are performed in the future.Matthias Lutolf, Editor, Integration column