Petar Stojadinovic, Douglas N. Gurevitch, Andy R. Watson
Sequana Therapeutics, 11099 N. Torrey Pines Rd. Suite160, San Diego, CA 92037
Sequana Therapeutics is engaged in identifying the genes responsible for common diseases such as asthma, diabetes, osteoporosis, and others. Effective selection of positive cDNA from large numbers of frozen clone library storage trays is necessary for successful gene discovery. We have automated the recovery process of catalogued frozen clones utilizing the Biomek 2000 workstation. The Biomek 2000 offers appealing flexibility and performance. In order to harness its full capabilities we have developed custom software. A Visual Basic front end program, running under Windows 3.1, generates low level embedded TCL and BioScript commands and sends the commands, via interprocess communication with Bioworks, to instruct the robot. The systems can retrieve clones from library input plates in 384 and 96 well formats and inoculate clones into an output plate. The output plate is prepared by transferring liquids from Beckman reservoirs positioned on the work surface. The Visual Basic user interface allows Laboratory technicians to access their data selections from a data base or select positive clones by mouse clicking on plate wells. Plates scheduled for processing may be removed or added in a plate manager window. In this talk we will present the user interface, TCL issues, development and support issues, and a qualitative assessment of the program's day to day use.
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Updated 2/4/2002