by
Abstract
High-throughput screening has taken the Laboratory Robotics Interest Group from a cluster of New Jersey scientists gabbing about automation to a worldwide, Web-based organization with a membership of 2,100 . . . and climbing.
Scientists and vendors mingle by the buffet, balancing finger-foods and soda glasses while discussing potential deals. In adjacent rooms, robotic arms, liquid handlers, and other instruments whirr, grab, and fill, demonstrating their capabilities before interested huddles of researchers. It feels like the typical vendor reception at PittCon. But then one of the Boy Scouts asks a question.
"What does that do?" the boy asks, pointing at the liquid-handling tips of a Gilson multiple probe 215/889 injection module. His question is less technically astute, but otherwise quite similar in intent and enthusiasm to those being posed around him. The Scouts, along with some 400 scientists and vendors, are visiting a meeting of the Laboratory Robotics Interest
Group (LRIG), a forum for users to share strategies for automating research laboratories.
The LRIG was formed in the early 1980s, when laboratory automation was found mainly in analytical labs. But membership in the group has exploded in recent years, partly due to the pivotal role that automation now plays in high-throughput R&D. "I gave a talk before the LRIG on high-throughput screening in 1990 and got a bunch of blank looks," recalls Dennis France, a senior scientist in the Department of Oncology at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (Summit, New Jersey). France has served as the LRIG's executive chair since 1996. The group had 200 members then; today, membership exceeds 2,100, and meetings regularly attract crowds of 300 or more.
Where the Users Are
The LRIG's phenomenal growth has not distracted the group from its primary
mission: to serve as an educational and professional resource for users of
robotics and automation. Unlike larger industry organizations such as the Society for Biomolecular Screening (SBS) and
the Association for Laboratory
Automation, the LRIG collects no dues, sponsors no annual meeting or
conference, and produces no journals. That's because the group targets the
scientists at the bench, who rarely, if at all, have the opportunity to attend
the big meetings, where many of the conversations about changes in the industry
occur.
"If I were in the market for a piece of equipment, I'd love this venue, because it's a chance to see everything for the laboratory in one place at one time," Peter Siesel, eastern regional manager at Tecan U.S. (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina), says.
p>
Even as meetings have grown to include as many as 500 people, the format has
remained unchanged. Meetings are held after work, dress is come-as-you-are, and
the formal program is finished by nine o'clock. Topics vary, although
high-throughput screening (HTS) typically draws the biggest crowds. France notes,
however, that membership remains decidedly multidisciplinary. "At the end of the
day, all of us, from the screeners to the analytical chemists, are dealing with
the same issues. A robot is a robot - whether it's picking up a microplate or a
test tube, your main question is whether it's a good, reliable instrument."p>Venting the Issues
LRIG meetings also give users the chance to vent, an essential activity given the continual changes occurring throughout the automation industry. At LRIG meetings, presentations and conversations address the choices that laboratories must make to be effective. Should my lab miniaturize or stick with 96-well plates? Should we build our own customized informatics infrastructure or buy a commercial system? Should we continue doing ELISAs or RIAs or should we look at some of the newer detection technologies coming out?
Standards, or, more accurately, the lack thereof, are a common source of
frustration for HTS scientists. Other than the microplate, automation standards
are virtually nonexistent. Customers concede that the technology is complex,
particularly in the area of data management. But should it really cost thousands
of dollars to interface a reader? According to Andy Zaayenga, president of TekCel (Martinsville, New Jersey) and the LRIG's
secretary, such fees are all too common.
"When I go to the store and buy software or a new computer, I can, for the most part, just put everything together and run it," Zaayenga notes. "It shouldn't be any different in the automation industry. Sure, my company can build interfaces, but I'd much rather spend my time working on the applications that will make the final system unique and valuable to my clients."
Because there is no shortage of opinions on this or any of the other subjects
raised at LRIG meetings, the group considers itself a facilitator, bringing
vendors and users together to hash out their differences. When a subject warrants
further investigation, the LRIG readily joins forces with professional industry
organizations such as the SBS. In fact, the LRIG and the SBS are currently
working on establishing standards for data-collection interfaces and instrument
drivers, according to William P. Janzen, president of the SBS. "The real strength
of our collaboration with the LRIG comes from the ability to identify areas of
common interest and leverage our combined memberships to bring these issues
before a much larger audience," Janzen says.
Web Causes Growth Spurt
HTS has certainly contributed to the LRIG's growth. But as Mark Dembowski, a senior biologist in discovery research at FMC Corporation (Princeton, New Jersey), points out, many of these technologies aren't that new. "Four years ago, the technologies were out there; people just didn't know that there was a group around for discussing them," he says.
In the past two years, the LRIG has used the Web to build its membership, creating an online community for laboratory robotics users worldwide. All meeting notices and membership updates are sent electronically, which helps the group cut costs. And the Web site itself offers a broad range of resources to users, including a job opportunities page, a list server, a "swap shop" (where users can sell, buy, or trade used equipment), and links to automation Web sites, newsgroups, manufacturers, and meetings.
While electronic discussions have their place, apparently they are no
substitute for face-to-face meetings. The LRIG has perhaps the most
geographically diverse meeting attendance of any regional technical society. The
December 1998 meeting, in fact, was attended by a researcher from the Pierre Fabre Research Institute in Ramonville, France, along with users and vendors from
across the United States. The mid-Atlantic
group has accommodated the clamor from its online members by launching a
New England chapter, which had its first meeting in March; chapters in the
Bay Area, southeastern U.S., San Diego, and Europe are in the formative
stages. New groups will run independently in order to better address the needs of users in their particular areas.
At least so far, the group shows no signs of letting its success change its modus operandi. "When this stops being fun, I'm out of here," says France, the LRIG chairman. Like the fascinated Boy Scouts at the LRIG's December meeting, it seems that even grown scientists occasionally need a chance just to play with the robots.
Deborah J. Ausman is a freelance science writer with a well-outfitted home office in St. Louis.
Andrzej Krauze is an illustrator, poster maker, cartoonist, and painter who illustrates regularly for HMS Beagle, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, Bookseller, and New Statesman.
Endlinks
BioSpace.com - a "hub" site for biotechnology and pharmaceutical-industry news and resources.
Network Science - resources, links, and combinatorial and mass-screening yellow pages.
SamplePrep Web at Duquesne University - information and advice regarding analytical-sample preparation, speciated analysis, trace analysis, and microwave chemistry.
Unofficial Combinatorial Chemistry Web Site - The Combinatorial Index (its outline presented on this site) compiles information on the combinatorial synthesis of small molecules.