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Sia, Samuel K.; Owens, Matthew P

doi:10.1038/nbt.3422

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…L ife-science research is increasingly accelerated through the advancement of automated, programmable instruments (1). Nevertheless, many usage barriers to such instruments exist, primarily due to physical access restrictions, advanced training needs, and limitations in programmability.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive programming paradigm for real-time experimentation with remote living matter

Washington

Samuel-Gama

Goyal

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Recent advancements in life-science instrumentation and automation enable entirely new modes of human interaction with microbiological processes and corresponding applications for science and education through biology cloud laboratories. A critical barrier for remote and on-site life-science experimentation (for both experts and nonexperts alike) is the absence of suitable abstractions and interfaces for programming living matter. To this end we conceptualize a programming paradigm that provides stimulus and sensor control functions for real-time manipulation of physical biological matter. Additionally, a simulation mode facilitates higher user throughput, program debugging, and biophysical modeling. To evaluate this paradigm, we implemented a JavaScript-based web toolkit, “Bioty,” that supports real-time interaction with swarms of phototacticEuglenacells hosted on a cloud laboratory. Studies with remote and on-site users demonstrate that individuals with little to no biology knowledge and intermediate programming knowledge were able to successfully create and use scientific applications and games. This work informs the design of programming environments for controlling living matter in general, for living material microfabrication and swarm robotics applications, and for lowering the access barriers to the life sciences for professional and citizen scientists, learners, and the lay public.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive programming paradigm for real-time experimentation with remote living matter

Washington

Samuel-Gama

Goyal

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…We demonstrated that this technology works robustly, can scale linearly to large user numbers (30,000+ experiments/week on 6 BPUs, which represents a two-fold capacity boost from our previous work [20] due to software improvements regarding BPU handling), and at low cost (< 1 ct/experiment) as the BPUs including their biological material require low maintenance effort, and where each BPU is hot-swappable while the system overall remains operational. It is important to realize that this adaptation of a cloud computing-like architecture [16,38] is the key to enable real science labs at scale (not only in biology) and constitutes a crucial innovation of our work. Our previous work [20] showed that simply "adding microscopes" (or other experimentation devices) to an online course delivery platform does not scale gracefully without a mechanism for automatic instrument and biology health monitoring (Euglena responsiveness to light, cell count, motility), and substantial engineering to perform load balancing in the backend.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive Biology Cloud Lab Enables Authentic Inquiry-Based Science Learning at MOOC Scale

Hossain

Bumbacher

Brauneis

et al. 2017

Preprint

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The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and other national frameworks are calling for much more sophisticated approaches to STEM education, centered around the integration of complex experimentation (including real labs, not just simulations), data collection and analysis, modeling, and data-driven argumentation, i.e., students can behave like real scientists. How to implement such complex approaches in scalable ways is an unsolved challenge -both for presential and distance education. Here we report on the iterative design and large-scale deployment of an open online course with a "biology cloud experimentation lab" (using living cells) that engaged remote learners (> 300 students) in the scientific practices of experimentation, modeling and data analysis to investigate the phototaxis of a microorganism. We demonstrate (1) the robustness and scalability of the cloud lab technology (> 2, 300 experiments run), (2) the design principles and synergistic integration of multiple UI and learning activities and suitable data formats to facilitate NGSS-aligned science activities, and (3) design features that leverages the natural variability of real biology experiments to instigate authentic inquiry. This platform and course content are now suited for large-scale adaptation in formal K-16 education; and we provide recommendations for inquiry-based science learning in general.

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“…As a technique to build integrated devices, microfluidics is also becoming more accessible to nonspecialists. In recent years, opportunities for collaboration and outsourcing have increased for researchers . This trend extends to microfluidic foundries and contract research organizations, which make off-the-shelf or customized microfluidic chips.…”

Section: The New Poc Ecosystemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, opportunities for collaboration and outsourcing have increased for researchers. 43 This trend extends to microfluidic foundries and contract research organizations, which make offthe-shelf or customized microfluidic chips. There is now a robust set of offerings (Table 1), such that other researchers in POC diagnostics (including chemists, biochemists, biologists, and clinicians) can design, build, and test custom integrated devices.…”

Section: ■ the New Poc Ecosystemmentioning

confidence: 99%