In the future, plastic-based lab-on-a-chip systems will play a crucial role in modem life sciences, e.g. biotechnology and (bio)medical engineering. Presently, nucrofluidic systems for capillary electrophoresis (CE) are being used. They allow for the safe handling of smallest substance volumes in the pL range and their separation into the individual components. From the microtechnical point of view, current R&D activities mainly focus on the development of inexpensive fabrication methods. Low-cost CE systems may be obtained by plastic molding techniques on a polymer basis. First separations of biological fluids and inorganic ion solutions have been performed successfully. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.