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The Automation of Science

The Automation of Science

Konrad Förstner

July 17, 2013
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  1. The automation of science A lunch seminar talk Konrad U.

    F¨ orstner Sharma group & Vogel group July, 17th, 2013, W¨ urzburg
  2. This a subset of slides extracted from a lunch seminar

    talk given at the Institute for Molecular Infection Biology (IMIB).
  3. Disclaimer Yes, this might hurt and I might be wrong.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/redjar/113823307/ – CC-BY by flickr user redjar
  4. Problem 1a: Common problem with large scale screenings Confirmation via

    manual, low-throughput methods (e.g. RNA-Seq analysis followed by northern blots to confirm candidates) http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179123671/
  5. Problem 1b: Scaling up experiments 10 - 100 repetitions possible

    1000 and more repetitions not possible http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179123671/
  6. Problem 1c: Craft vs. thinking Why does somebody who studied

    several years need to spend most of his/her time pipetting one liquid into another? http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179123671/
  7. Advantages of having a formal language for actions Transparency Reproducibility

    Scalability https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2018232 – CC-BY by flickr user jurvetson
  8. Claim We need more automation / formalization – especially in

    the life sciences. https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2018232 – CC-BY by flickr user jurvetson
  9. Motos ”Work on the business/system not in the business/system.” ”Be

    productive not busy.” ”Laziness is a virtue.” https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2018232 – CC-BY by flickr user jurvetson
  10. Challenges Price (as long as not coming a commondity) Lack

    of flexibility Formalization is hard Vendor lock-in ⇒ open standards required https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2018232 – CC-BY by flickr user jurvetson