Physical Laboratory Automation in Synthetic Biology

Abstract

Synthetic Biology has overcome many of the early challenges facing the field and is entering a systems era characterized by adoption of Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) approaches. The need for automation and standardization to enable reproducible, scalable, and translatable research has become increasingly accepted in recent years, and many of the hardware and software tools needed to address these challenges are now in place or under development. However, the lack of connectivity between DBTL modules and barriers to access and adoption remain significant challenges to realizing the full potential of lab automation. In this review, we characterize and classify the state of automation in synthetic biology with a focus on the physical automation of experimental workflows. Though fully autonomous scientific discovery is likely a long way off, impressive progress has been made toward automating critical elements of experimentation by combining intelligent hardware and software tools. It is worth questioning whether total automation that removes humans entirely from the loop should be the ultimate goal, and considerations for appropriate automation versus total automation are discussed in this light while emphasizing areas where further development is needed in both contexts.

Enabling high-throughput enzyme discovery and engineering with a low-cost, robot-assisted pipeline

“…Fortunately, this need arises in conjunction with the availability of liquid-handling robots that have enabled increased throughput with less human labor and reduced potential for error 24 , 25 . Considerable development in this area has been seen in the commercial sector with automation systems available at a wide range of prices.…”

Multicolor-Assay-on-a-Chip Processed by Robotic Operation (MACpro) with Improved Diagnostic Accuracy for Field-Deployable Detection

“…Also, field-driven nanorobots using magnetic and electric force were reported for automated and efficient assays. − Additionally, our group and others have introduced the robotic-assisted platforms, where the world-to-chip interface integrates microfluidic chips on the end effector of robots for automated molecular tests and cell manipulation, , instead of the standard well plates utilized in the commercially available pipetting workstations (e.g., Tecan, Beckman, Opentron, GenMark, etc. ). − Notably, compared to the electro-wetting and microvalve actuation platforms, the robotic systems provide several distinctive benefits, such as programmed paths and free motion over five axes to operate in broader working conditions and the ease of use microfluidic chips without specific needs of surfactants . The combination of robot and microfluidics allows for high-throughput sample processing at a minimal footprint and is more suitable for resource-limited settings.…”