This paper is concerned with the design and implementation of a simple but effective switching control strategy to regulate the dynamics of synthetic gene networks. The testbed circuit is IRMA, a recently developed network in S. Cerevisiae which is proposed as a suitable benchmark problem for control design. The proof-of-concept of an implementation of the control strategy in vivo is presented which is based on the use of microfluidics devices and fluorescence microscopy. Preliminary experimental results are given showing the good matching between the model predictions and the experimental observations. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.