Wide-scale SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing is critical to tracking viral evolution during the ongoing pandemic. Variants first detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil have spread to multiple countries. We developed the software tool, Variant Database (VDB), for quickly examining the changing landscape of spike mutations. Using VDB, we… Read More

Molecular cloning is the core of synthetic biology, as it comprises the assembly of DNA and its expression in target hosts. At present, however, cloning is most often a manual, time-consuming, and repetitive process that highly benefits from automation. The automation of a complete rational cloning procedure, i.e., from DNA creation… Read More

With the current rapid spread of COVID-19, global health systems are increasingly overburdened by the sheer number of people that need diagnosis, isolation and treatment. Shortcomings are evident across the board, from staffing, facilities for rapid and reliable testing to availability of hospital beds and key medical-grade equipment. Read More

Modern data analysis methods, such as optimization algorithms or deep learning have been successfully applied to a number of biotechnological and medical questions. For these methods to be efficient, a large number of high-quality and reproducible experiments needs to be conducted, requiring a high degree of automation. … Read More

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is predominantly associated with cellular damage; however, recent studies show that cells release low levels of H2O2 as part of normal intercellular communication. The mechanisms of hydrogen peroxide transport, uptake and release, and biological effects are not yet well known but have important implications for cancer, stem… Read More

The Opentrons COVID-19 Testing System is a flexible, high-throughput surveillance testing system using OT-2 hardware & validated withZymo reagents to process up to 2,400 samples per day. Read More

The next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflow includes preparing DNA libraries using commercially available and cost-effective DNA preparation kits. Optimizing this workflow by using an automated OT-2 protocol helps to improve the efficiency for DNA library preparation. Read More

Valuable NGS data depends on quality library preparation; insightful sequencing relies on unbiased library coverage with good yields. Read More

PCR is a molecular biology workhorse that is used for detecting and quantifying specific genes and is an important component of downstream applications including genomics and transcriptomics. Read More

The Swift 2S™ Turbo DNA Library Kit was automated with the Opentrons OT-2 for fast and robust preparation of high quality libraries for next generation sequencing. Read More