种子是新的“黄金”。何以见得？世界人口持续增长，大家的生存离不开植物性食品。但是，气候变化、病虫害问题却威胁着植物育种。所以，植物育种者需要培育出抗性种子，并将其用于农业，而这一过程需要大量的 DNA 样本。为此，Synchron Lab 研发了一种“DNA 工厂”。该工厂采用自动化生产模式，集成了 Festo 的门架、电缸、气爪和传感器等产品。
The system can extract a tremendous 40,000 DNA samples in the space of 24 hours. It thus meets the increasing demands for high throughput in laboratory automation. The demand for DNA samples has long been so high that it would not be possible to employ enough laboratory assistants to supply these quantities. Not to mention staffing costs. Thanks to the system, highly qualified laboratory assistants can concentrate on their core competence, the analysis of results.
Experienced laboratory assistants are able to manually extract the DNA from two microwell plates per day. With small, automated bench-top systems, a total of eight microwell plates per day can be achieved. Synchron Lab's novel "DNA factory" can manage a throughput of 400 microwell plates per day. Only one operator is needed to load and unload the microwell plates.
"Laboratories are still quite sceptical about automation. That's why it is important that laboratory staff can always see what is going on in the system," explains Glenn Dukel, Project and Business Development Manager at Synchron Lab. So they involved plant breeders in the development phase and also made the operating software as intuitive as possible, for instance using drag and drop functions.
Synchron develops customised solutions for laboratory automation and specialises in the automated handling of liquids. Synchron is known in the industry as a progressive and innovative company. Since 1985, the company has been developing customised products thanks to the excellent relationships it has established with laboratory equipment manufacturers. Their products, both software and hardware, are now used in many laboratories throughout Europe. Synchron offers expertise in all areas of automation and has a wealth of experience in the development and marketing of flexible robot automation.