LabAutomation 2006 - SLAS

MP57
Andre Marziali
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada
andre@physics.ubc.ca
Where Laboratory Technologies Emerge and Merge
Co-Author(s)
David Broemeling, Joel Pel, Stephen Inglis
Neha Shah, Carolyn Cowdell, Gosuke Shibahara
Lorne Whitehead
A Powerful New Device and Method for Isolating and Pre-Concentrating DNA for Early
Detection of Cancer, Disease, and Pathogens
Rapid isolation and detection of nucleic acids from exfoliated tumor cells or pathogens in human bodily fluids could lead to improvements
in our capacity for early detection and identification of cancer and infectious disease. However, nucleic acid based early diagnosis is limited
by the difficulty of extracting low abundance DNA from body fluids that are rich in unwanted contaminants and cellular debris. We have
developed a novel instrument for isolating and pre-concentrating nucleic acids from complex samples including blood serum and bodily
fluids. This instrument will serve as a front-end to existing detection technologies (e.g. PCR and microarrays) to improve their performance
for detection of DNA biomarkers in human samples and thus enable cost-effective early detection of cancer and pathogens.
Using a novel method of 2-D nonlinear electrophoresis capable of injecting DNA from an aqueous solution into sieving media with inherent
selection parameters, we can achieve powerful separation and high concentration of DNA from contaminants without the clogging
difficulties associated with filtration. This technique represents a conceptually new general method for simple, automatable, inexpensive,
and selective concentration of nucleic acids directly from raw, unfiltered samples. Other applications of this technology lie in areas of
biodefense to act as a front end for biomarker-based pathogen detection systems, as we have demonstrated DNA concentration factors
exceeding 10,000 and factors of 106 are expected to be obtainable. This method also allows for concentration of intact high molecular
weight DNA with potential applications in areas of metagenomics and drug discovery.
MP58
Peyman Najmabadi
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
najm@mie.utoronto.ca
Co-Author(s)
Andrew A. Goldenberg
Andrew Emili
University of Toronto
New Flexible Laboratory Automation System Concepts for Biotechnology
Research Laboratories
Research laboratories are playing a major role in biotechnology. Scientists in these laboratories are performing diverse types of protocols
and tend to continuously modify them as part of their research. At the same time, high throughput implementation of experiments is highly
demanded. Therefore, flexible automation systems are required to improve the productivity of these laboratories. Most of automation
systems available on the market are claimed to be flexible, but still do not address the whole spectrum of needs. This paper is a system
level study of hardware flexibility of laboratory automation concepts. Flexibility was systematically modeled through the introduction of three
parametric measures: Functional, Structural and Throughput. New quantitative measures for these parameters in the realm of Axiomatic
Theory were proposed. The method was employed for flexibility evaluation of currently used automation concepts. Based on the result of
this analysis, two new automation concepts were proposed: (i) Total Modular Laboratory Automation, a new approach to implementation
of robotic-based laboratory automation systems in which robotic arms are substituted with modular arms. It was shown that this new
concept improves structural and throughput flexibility of robotic-based systems; (ii) Distributed Motion Laboratory Automation, a new
integration of robotic-based and track-based automation approaches. In this approach, liquid handling and transportation end-effectors
are moving on transportation rails. It was shown that this concept improves functional flexibility of track-based systems. As case studies,
automation of various protein purification protocols were considered through aforementioned new concepts and their improved flexibility
were shown in comparison with traditional concepts.
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