September 10, 2019 07:00 EDT

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Opentrons, the company making laboratory robotics within reach, has launched the most affordable, fully automated thermal cycler ever, bringing end-to-end PCR-based technology to biologists around the world. workflow automation.

Today, many products on the market allow biologists to automate key parts of their workflow, but most laboratory robots still require human intervention between steps. This breaks the workflow into smaller automated chunks, requiring scientists to manipulate their samples themselves, without actually freeing biologists from repetitive and error-prone lab work. With the introduction of its on-deck automated thermal cycler, Opentrons is addressing one of the major pain points for biologists without access to a fully automated, “walk away” laboratory solution.

The Opentrons Thermocycler, which sells for $4,000, is designed to mount directly onto the platform of an OT-2 pipetting robot and be as fast and accurate as machines 10 times the price. This opens up end-to-end automation of important protocols such as NGS library preparation, PCR genotyping, DNA assembly, PCR mutagenesis, and more.

“Before the advent of thermal cyclers, biologists performed PCR by manually moving tubes from one water bath to another,” said Will Canine, Opentrons co-founder and chief product officer. “Thermal cyclers automate this tedious process, and we are now taking it one step further by automating the pipetting steps before and after thermal cycling—all at a revolutionary price point accessible to biologists around the world.”

Biologists can download protocols for important experiments, such as NGS library preparation, genotyping PCR, and DNA assembly, with the click of a button, or even create their own protocols from scratch, without the need for programming skills or a technical team. This combination of affordability, ease of use, and powerful automation is changing the way many biologists work every day.

About Opentrons

Opentrons is making automation possible in any laboratory, starting with affordable pipetting robots for biologists. With its easy-to-use hardware and open software platform, Opentrons automates manual laboratory work and supports collaborative research for life scientists. Opentrons has helped more than 1,000 laboratories in 45 countries save time, money and laboratory costs, including 47 of the world's top 50 academic universities including MIT, Oxford and Stanford, as well as GSK Gram and other 9 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies. Merck and Novartis. To learn more, please visit www.jdpfw.com.