The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged diagnostic systems globally. Expanding testing capabilities to conduct population-wide screening for COVID-19 requires innovation in diagnostic services at both the molecular and industrial scale. No report to-date has considered the complexity of laboratory infrastructure in conjunction with the available molecular assays to offer a standardised… Read More

Current global pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 has struggled and pushed the limits of global health systems. Supply chain disruptions and scarce availability of commercial laboratory reagents have motivated worldwide actors to search for alternative workflows to cope with the demand. Read More

Rapid integration of whole genome sequencing and population-based surveillance data is critical to characterizing new SARS-CoV-2 variants. Read More

Two automatable in-house protocols for high-troughput RNA extraction from nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection have been evaluated. Read More

Two automatable in-house protocols for high-troughput RNA extraction from nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection have been evaluated. Read More

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