Week 3 HW: Lab Automation

Part 1: Python Script for Opentrons Artwork

I used the amazing Donovan’s tool to create this, then used the coordinates… It’s a homage to my cat Nico. He is a crazy cute orange cat. nico nico

Part 2: Post-Lab Questions

  • Question 1
    I chose this paper: Automation of protein crystallization scaleup via Opentrons-2 liquid handling by DeRoo et al. I’m really into structural biology, and protein crystallization is a critical step in it, because it enables structure determination via X-ray crystallography. However, traditional crystallization trials are highly manual, repetitive, and sensitive to small variations in liquid handling. This paper demonstrates how the Opentrons-2 liquid handling robot can be used to automate protein crystallization experiments, specifically sitting-drop crystallization in 24-well plates.

  • Question 2
    I intend to use the Opentrons robot to automate the fabrication, assembly, and testing of paper-based biosensors that detect environmental signals (such as carbon monoxide). The core idea is to use automation to precisely deposit reagents onto paper substrates in reproducible patterns, enabling scalable production and systematic testing of biosensor designs. I do need to research more to undderstand exactly what is possible or not with OpenTrons.

Part 3: Final Project Ideas

It’s all on the slides!