In the lab, the field of life science is reliant on the manual manipulation of many instruments, tools and tasks by scientists. There are many necessary evils of the job; time-consuming, intricate and laborious protocols that must be done as part of the research process.
Since automation technologies have been integrated into life science labs, many of these tasks have been enhanced. That is, made more efficient, reproducible, and less error-prone.
According to Bob Murphy, the head of the computational biology department at Carnegie Mellon University, automated science is ‘moving the role of the scientist higher and higher up the food chain.’ (source)
Automation is empowering scientists to be even better – getting to discoveries quicker and giving them more ability to use their bright minds for great things; spending less time on the menial and mundane tasks that inhibit them.
What lab automation solutions are being used in life science laboratories?
There’s an ever-broadening range of automation technologies that are being used in life science labs. We won’t name them all, but below are just some examples of what’s out there.
Microplate handling instruments
Used in High-Throughput Screening (HTS) protocols, microplate handling instruments are designed to move microplates around a workcell. They also place and remove them from microplate stacks and microplate nests of other devices, like liquid handlers, incubators and microplate readers.
Colony picking lab automation systems
Colony picking automation and robotic tools work to efficiently conduct colony picking. Single-well microplates or petri dishes can be stacked within these systems and queued onto a system where colonies will be picked, usually, by a robotic arm. These can include image analysis software that can automatically pick appropriate colonies depending on the criteria of the operator.
Liquid handling automation
Providing plenty of benefits over manual pipetting (say goodbye to repetitive strain), automated liquid handling works to perform a programmed transfer of liquid between various source and destination vessels. Also known as pipetting robots or pipetting workstations, these technologies can carry out mixing, magnetic or vacuum based separations, and temperature incubation.
Sample preparation system
Sample preparation systems prepare new and pre-prepared samples through customisable workflows. These automated systems allow for custom sequences to be built using simple click and point actions on a user interface.
Each sample can be assigned the appropriate steps like mixing and dispensing, and include adjustable parameters for different speeds, volumes and times. Each solution is slightly different to the next, but can contain components such as chilled sample storage, liquid handling, solvent vapour extraction, and a software interface.
The benefits of automation in life sciences
Reproducibility
The lack of reproducibility has plagued scientists for many years. Reproducibility can incorporate several different aspects of scientific research, but essentially, it helps direct replication. What automation has given to scientists is the ability to – finally – directly replicate their findings.
Automation is helping to improve reproducibility in three main ways. These are:
- Reducing inconsistencies found in human-conducted processes
- Increasing the rate that data is generated
- Decreasing the risk of contamination
Lab efficiency
Lab efficiency is a broad term, relating to the productivity of all kinds of processes that take place within a lab – from experiments to discovery. Automation can make a lab more efficient by helping to increase the rate of production and reducing the amount of resources needed to deliver at this rate.
Some common processes that take place in the lab, like liquid handling, reagent dispensing, plate counting, and centrifugation can be accelerated with automation, all without human-induced error. Time sensitive experiments can also be made more efficient through the use of automation technologies, achieving a greater rate of experimental output.
There are laboratory automation equipment solutions that can run at all hours of the day, providing an array of possibilities for what can be achieved. In doing this, they are able to test multiple experimental hypothesis over the course of a day – something a manual research team would’ve done in a longer time frame.
Read more: How does automation improve lab efficiency?
Safety
The lab can be a hazardous place.
When, through automation, tech carries out tasks for a scientist, it can become a much safer setting.
Manually handling hazardous chemicals can be harmful for obvious reasons, and running the risk of contamination is also a burden for scientists and the organisations they work with. This is because it can impact the quality of scientific data and increase the time it takes to reach discovery, with experiments having to be redone.
Managing hazardous substances can also require constant supervision for more junior scientists. With automated technology, these concerns can be remediated.
The risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI) is also less likely to occur due to automated processes. With machines carrying out manual and physically repetitive tasks, the risks of scientists developing strain from repetitive movements is reduced, mitigating both short and long-term risks.
Learn more about safety & automation in the lab.
Faster tech transfer
Life science research is crucial because of the potential it carries to save the lives of many and improve the quality of life for all.
Automation has so far been invaluable due to its ability to speed up translation from lab to clinic, or ‘bench to bedside’. Through automation, critical components of the lab to clinic process can be mechanised. Production rates can be improved in the laboratory because of this and facilitate manufacturing on a larger scale.
Data accuracy
The machine learning component that many automation tools offer work to accurately analyse data. By avoiding idealised training subsets and learning from larger pools of real-world samples, machine learning algorithms evaluate data much more precisely than human interpretation.
This is something that can be done automatically by technology, which also takes some weight off the scientist – allowing them to focus this brain power elsewhere!
What does the future look like for lab automation in the life sciences?
More organisations, including biopharma and biotech companies, academic institutions, and governments, are investing in automated technologies. And, progress for the robotics and automation industry isn’t showing much sign of stopping. That’s because it is widely recognised for its ability to speed up workflows, optimise resource, provide competitive advantages, and produce more accurate results on a larger scale.
It’s not to say that automation doesn’t come without its challenges. Industrial and clinical settings, for instance, are limited to what can be done through automated technologies – causing an ‘automation gap’ for these sectors.
There are also concerns about the incorrect application of automated technologies. Other challenges include the expense of these technologies and whether their use can be justified. There’s also dispute about whether it may make scientists less able to innovate or even obsolete.
These worries are not dissimilar from the concerns that technology is generally posing to society. But, we can see that there are tasks in the lab that automation is definitely optimising: making the lives of research scientists that bit easier, and giving life science organisations the tools to meet mass market demands.
Read about our future predictions.
Lumi – Meeting the needs of life scientists
Lumi was created in response to direct demand from laboratory scientists, the demand for an extra pair of eyes, ears, and brain in the lab. Lumi is filling the gap that currently exists for businesses and scientists – those that can benefit from a helping hand.
As an integrated lab digitalisation platform that automatically captures operational data, Lumi increases efficiency and enables faster scientific progress.
Through computer vision, voice and machine learning, Lumi takes away the pain of recording and analysing operational data. From a LabEye™ module to the cloud, scientists never miss a moment in their research, with an opportunity to share the data with colleagues, gain deeper insights and get greater meaning from their data.
Want to know more about the benefits of adopting Lumi as an automation solution for your lab? Get in touch today to find out more or to book a demo.