World's first autonomous experimental system developed by Shimadzu: Verification of prototype usefulness

Shimadzu Corporation and Kobe University have started verifying the usefulness of an autonomous experimental system (Autonomous Lab) prototype that utilizes robots, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI). Simultaneously, a prototype of the experimental system for the smart cell industry field has been released for researchers at companies and universities considering automation at the Biofoundry Laboratory in the Kobe University Integrated Research Center.

Shimadzu has set "a platform for autonomous scientific discoveries by robots and AI" as the vision of future laboratories, and the Basic Technology Research Institute is playing a central role in developing an autonomous experimental system for its realization. In this system, the researcher inputs the protocol (experimental procedure) using the cloud service, and the robot subsequently executes the experiment and conveys the experiment results to the researcher using the cloud. In addition, data can be analyzed by AI to support analyses, and plans can be automatically established to proceed with the experiments autonomously. Shimadzu aims to socially implement this autonomous experimental system in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, new material development, etc. In collaboration with Professor Tomohisa Hasunuma of Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University and others, they have been working on research into "smart cells" (cells with artificially altered genes using advanced biotechnology) for three years since FY2018.

The researchers are also jointly working on verifying the improvement in the efficiency of the "DBTL cycle" of Design (metabolic design/gene design) → Build (host construction) → Test (productivity evaluation/metabolome analysis) → Learn (analysis of experimental results) using a prototype for the construction of an autonomous experimental system. The specific themes are "improving the enzymatic functions causing bottlenecks in metabolic pathways for producing substances with enhanced functional properties" and "automatically optimizing parameters in the smart cell cultivation." Based on the data obtained from the analytical instruments, they will utilize AI to formulate the following experimental conditions to rapidly construct highly producing strains and optimize the culture conditions. The prototype has been installed in the Biofoundry Laboratory of Kobe University Integrated Research Center (Minatojima Minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe), and the companies are proceeding with demonstration experiments aimed at expanding into fields, such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and new material development and implementing them in society. As a part of this, both sides have also started accepting tours and demonstrations for researchers and companies considering automation. Shimadzu has invested in the bio-venture "Bacchus Bio-Innovation" from Kobe University and has signed an agreement on collaboration. Shimadzu will continue to promote research and development toward the development of "smart cells" together with Kobe University and Bacchus Bio-Innovation.