Make biological tests reproducible

Interior and exterior view of the Cellshare laboratory. (© Photo Fraunhofer IPA)

Vince Ebert explains the Cellshare concept in an illustrative manner as part of the IPA video series "Future Researchers Meet Future Research." (© Photo Fraunhofer IPA)

With the »Cellshare« developed by Fraunhofer IPA – the automated laboratory in the cloud – substance manufacturers and pharmaceutical-chemical companies can now perform cell-based tests automatically and centrally. The advantage is obvious: save costs and time, ensure the highest quality standards. The system is currently being presented at the Life-Science fair Miptec in Basel. A web-based configurator is in preparation.

Every day, new substances with new properties are created, which will later be used in industrial products and daily life. What should already be avoided in consumer products, for example, are incompatibilities. For this reason, all substances must be tested for safety before use. This process is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, reproducibility and a limited, increased throughput are often vital for business development. High investment costs for automated infrastructure and ongoing maintenance costs are therefore not sustainable in the long term. This is exactly where the Cellshare concept comes in.

Perform cell-based tests automatically

As a cloud lab, Cellshare aims to provide customers with round-the-clock access to cell-based processes. Orders are placed online. Tests can be individually defined by the customer via a web interface, comparable to configuring an online car purchase. The execution is automated on Cellshare's infrastructure after commissioning. The result data are available in real-time on the cloud platform »Virtual Fort Knox«, co-developed by Fraunhofer IPA. An analysis or graphical representation should make it easier for the customer to view results and compare different experiments directly. Further investigations can be conducted by the customer on the platform under the same experimental conditions. The added value here is standardization. Moriz Walter, project manager of Cellshare at Fraunhofer IPA, adds: "This ensures a high degree of reproducibility and comparability of the data. Additionally, integrating suppliers or analysis software – similar to an app store – within Virtual Fort Knox is possible. This gives the customer the opportunity to perform evaluations with known starting materials or commercially available analysis tools." Besides other German companies, there are also American companies working on similar concepts. "The demand from industry is definitely there. However, research is still in its early stages," Walter continues. Currently, Moriz Walter and his team are in the final stages of developing a Cellshare configurator. Activation for customer testing is planned for this fall.

To give a media impression of what the industry can expect, Vince Ebert addressed the Cellshare topic as part of the IPA Explains video series "Future Researchers Meet Future Research," summarizing it as follows: "It's like a country game: Tiki-Taka. In my next life, I won't be a physicist, but a laboratory automator." Cellshare will be shown at the Basel Life-Science fair Miptec until tomorrow in the Innovation Forum, Hall 4.1, P19. Interested parties can get insights into the complete laboratory infrastructure directly at Fraunhofer IPA in Stuttgart.