Leibniz almost got the point in the very time of the first
microscopic perceptions of micro-organisms, but he could not free himself from the
mechanical model and so, though he held that every individual at least feels, he did not attribute even the least creativity, originative power, to any individual other than God, who thus had no proper place in the
system.
The researchers view their
system as an alternative to the microfluidic devices now commonly used in biological research, in which biological solutions are pumped through
microscopic channels connected by
mechanical valves.