AI Insight
Researchers at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute developed a student-built automated system capable of performing electroporation, a technique used to introduce genetic material into cells, across standard 96- and 384-well plate formats without manual intervention. The system integrates robotic liquid handling with electroporation hardware to enable high-throughput, reproducible cell transfection workflows. This represents a significant step toward fully autonomous genetic engineering pipelines in laboratory settings.
Why it matters
Automating electroporation at scale reduces human error, increases reproducibility, and dramatically accelerates workflows in fields such as gene therapy, synthetic biology, and drug discovery. The accessibility of a student-built solution suggests this approach could be adopted by laboratories with moderate resources, broadening participation in high-throughput biological research.
Inside the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, where some of the most advanced and technical automated infrastructure on campus resides, two students saw an opportunity hiding in plain sight.
Source: Student-built system unlocks fully autonomous electroporation for 96- and 384-well workflows