A Lifesciences Lab Where Robots Do All the Experiments

In the heart of Silicon Valley is a biotech laboratory run by robots. They carry out experiments ordered by scientists anywhere in the world who simply login to the lab, describe their project, set options like the cells to use or the types of analyses to perform, and go on to do other things while the robots do the rest.

The Strateos lab in Menlo Park, California is as sophisticated as many research facilities and it becomes more so all the time. In partnership with Eli Lilly, Strateos opened a second robotic cloud laboratory in San Diego this year that focuses on the drug discovery process.

Lilly is using part of this Life Sciences Studio for its own projects. The remaining capacity is available to startups in the biosciences to run their own experiments, providing them access to tools and processes few of them can afford on their own.

Though still rare, fully robotic, remote laboratories like these are the future of drug development and biological research. They’re a clear sign of just how much laboratory automation has advanced. From the early days of handling routine and basic functions like blood chemistries, immunoassay and urinalysis, the cutting edge Life Sciences Studio can synthesize, test, and optimize compounds in pursuit of new drug therapies without human help.

At the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation Institute in Houston, concept automation is tested and demonstrated. One of the most futuristic is YuMi, a product of ABB Robotics, which has a research hub there. Already in use in a handful of facilities, YuMi manages viral antigen testing in one lab and handles tissue, bone, and sterile fluid samples at another.

ABB predicts that by 2025, 60,000 nonsurgical robots, many as versatile as YuMi, will be in use in healthcare. 5,000 deployed in laboratories.

Robots,says Robin Felder, PhD, professor of pathology and associate director of clinical chemistry and toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, are “beginning to swallow up all of the manual parts of the laboratory.”

But more than that, with the rapid advances in artificial intelligence, Ben Miles, PhD, head of product at Strateos, sees a future where the robots will analyze data to initiate experiments on their own.

We’re not there yet. But as Dr. Dean Ho, Provost’s chair professor of biomedical engineering at the National University of Singapore, said, “At some point, we’ll be able to move beyond solely relying on pre-existing data and algorithm training and prediction making.”

Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Brad Martin
Architecture + Engineering General Interest

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Brad Martin

Green Key Unlocked: Mastering your Healthcare Interview
General Interest Healthcare

Green Key Unlocked: Mastering your Healthcare Interview

Is Covid-19 Back or Are We Just Seeing a Surge in Cases?
General Interest Healthcare Pharma

Is Covid-19 Back or Are We Just Seeing a Surge in Cases?

Strategic Networking: A Secret Weapon in Job Searching
Accounting + Finance Architecture + Engineering Financial Services General Interest Healthcare Human Resources Information Technology Legal Support Marketing Technology Pharma Professional Support

Strategic Networking: A Secret Weapon in Job Searching

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Justin Nadelman
General Interest Green Key News Information Technology Leadership + Management

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Justin Nadelman

Navigating the Tech Interview Maze: A Guide to Success
General Interest Information Technology

Navigating the Tech Interview Maze: A Guide to Success

Green Key Unlocked: How to Succeed in Payroll Management
Accounting + Finance General Interest Human Resources Leadership + Management

Green Key Unlocked: How to Succeed in Payroll Management

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Jenny Rehkugler
Accounting + Finance General Interest

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Jenny Rehkugler

Handling Mistakes & Failure in the Workplace
General Interest Worklife

Handling Mistakes & Failure in the Workplace

How to Support Those Affected by Hawai’i Wildfires 
Green Key News

How to Support Those Affected by Hawai’i Wildfires 

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Halle Sarfin
Green Key News Professional Support

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Halle Sarfin

Advantages of Offering Exit Interviews
General Interest Human Resources

Advantages of Offering Exit Interviews

Tracking Metrics: Learning & Development
General Interest Leadership + Management Worklife

Tracking Metrics: Learning & Development

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Leanna Gallagher
Green Key News Human Resources

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Leanna Gallagher

How to Beat the Summer Productivity Slump
General Interest Leadership + Management Worklife

How to Beat the Summer Productivity Slump

Questions to Ask When Hiring a Recruiter
General Interest Leadership + Management Worklife

Questions to Ask When Hiring a Recruiter

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Chianté Vidal
Architecture + Engineering Green Key News

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Chianté Vidal

Celebrating 10 Years of GKR in Rockville
Green Key News Leadership + Management Professional Support

Celebrating 10 Years of GKR in Rockville

Internal Mobility: Retaining Top Talent
General Interest

Internal Mobility: Retaining Top Talent

Green Key Unlocked: The Future of Telemedicine & Virtual Healthcare
General Interest Healthcare Information Technology

Green Key Unlocked: The Future of Telemedicine & Virtual Healthcare

Latest Blog Posts
View All Posts
#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Brad Martin

#WeAreGreenKey: Spotlight on Brad Martin

What I find the most rewarding is the fulfilment of seeing someone take that next step in their career while...
Read More
Green Key Unlocked: Mastering your Healthcare Interview

Green Key Unlocked: Mastering your Healthcare Interview

Staying in the same vein as preparing for success in a tech interview, let’s take a look at how to...
Read More
Is Covid-19 Back or Are We Just Seeing a Surge in Cases?

Is Covid-19 Back or Are We Just Seeing a Surge in Cases?

With the recent increase in hospitalizations and Covid-19 cases across the U.S. the question of How to protect ourselves and...
Read More