A Modular Automated Platform for Large-scale Drosophila Experiments and Handling

Flysorter, Llc, Seattle WA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT Animal model systems are a powerful tool researchers use to investigate almost all aspects of biology: genetics, development, neuroscience, disease, and more. And fruit flies ? Drosophila melanogaster ? with their small size, easy care, and remarkable array of available genetic toolkits, occupy a sweet spot on the model organism spectrum. Over 75% of human diseases with a genetic basis have an analogue in the fly, and Drosophila have been a part of the research for six Nobel prizes. Furthermore, the advent of CRISPR/cas9 and other modern genetic tools has opened the door to modeling other diseases and pathways, leading to greater use of Drosophila for drug screens. A great deal of the work (and the majority of the budget) involved in fly experiments is tedious manual labor, and with advances in computer vision, machine learning, and other analytic techniques, the stage is set to automate many phenotypic screens. In this Phase I SBIR, we propose a robotic system ? modular automated platform for large-scale experiments (MAPLE) ? that can accomplish a wide variety of fly-handling tasks in Drosophila labs. This robot is the fruit fly version of a liquid handling robot, with a large, open workspace that can house a plethora of modules and several manipulators that can move small parts and animals around that workspace. Building on a collaboration between the de Bivort Lab and FlySorter completed in 2017, we will design, fabricate and validate a commercial system that can collect virgin flies, run behavioral assays, conduct drug screens, and adapt to the needs of fly labs through easy-to-code Python scripts. By strategically combining modules and instructions to the robot, MAPLE can perform a wide variety of tasks in a fly lab, saving experimentalists from repetitive chores, cutting labor costs, and increasing scientific output. Just as pipette robots have become standard equipment in wet labs, we envision our fly handling robot will be the engine that powers Drosophila labs in academia and pharma, enabling new kinds of experiments and freeing researchers from the drudgery of fly pushing.