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With all due respect to Maholo, lab automation isn't anthropomorphic

Nature Biotechnology volume 35, pages 312–314 (2017)Cite this article

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To the Editor:

Biosciences journals often require rigorous statistical evidence for the data presented because a substantial proportion of the biosciences literature is not reproducible1. In this issue, Yachie et al.2 propose that LabDroids could form part of a robotic infrastructure that might contribute to improved reproducibility. However, we argue that reproducible research can be enabled by existing (or new) automation technologies present in both individual research groups and centralized DNA foundries that can be accessed using cloud-based applications.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The London DNA Foundry, UK Synthetic Biology Innovation, Commercialisation and Industrial Translation Centre, London, UK

    David W McClymont & Paul S Freemont

  2. Department of Medicine, Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Paul S Freemont

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  1. David W McClymont
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  2. Paul S Freemont
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Correspondence to David W McClymont or Paul S Freemont.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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McClymont, D., Freemont, P. With all due respect to Maholo, lab automation isn't anthropomorphic. Nat Biotechnol 35, 312–314 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3795

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