Lab organisms are valuable in part because of large-scale experiments like screens, but performing such experiments over long time periods by hand is arduous and error-prone. Organism-handling robots could revolutionize large-scale experiments in the way that liquid-handling robots accelerated molecular biology. We developed a modular automated platform for large-scale experiments (MAPLE), an organism-handling robot capable of conducting lab tasks and experiments, and then deployed it to conduct common experiments in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans, Physarum polycephalum, Bombus impatiens, and Drosophila melanogaster. Focusing on fruit flies, we developed a suite of experimental modules that permitted the automated collection of virgin females and execution of an intricate and laborious social behavior experiment. We discovered that (1) pairs of flies exhibit persistent idiosyncrasies in social behavior, which (2) require olfaction and vision, and (3) social interaction network structure is stable over days. These diverse examples demonstrate MAPLE’s versatility for automating experimental biology.

Genetic model system animals have significant scientific value in part because of large-scale experiments like screens, but performing such experiments over long time periods by hand is arduous and risks errors. Thus the field is poised to benefit from automation, just as molecular biology did from liquid-handling robots. We developed a Modular Automated Platform for Large-scale Experiments (MAPLE), a Drosophila-handling robot capable of conducting lab tasks and experiments. We demonstrate MAPLE's ability to accelerate the collection of virgin female flies (a pervasive experimental chore in fly genetics) and assist high-throughput phenotyping assays. Using MAPLE to autonomously run a novel social interaction experiment, we found that 1) pairs of flies exhibit persistent idiosyncrasies in affiliative behavior, 2) these dyad-specific interactions require olfactory and visual cues, and 3) social interaction network structure is topologically stable over time. These diverse examples demonstrate MAPLE's versatility as a general platform for conducting fly science automatically.

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