Gas controlled biofoundry

Description

We are looking to significantly expand our capabilities in bioengineering and cultivation of strict anaerobic microorganisms by developing an anaerobic biofoundry. The building of an anaerobic biofoundry has significant technical challenges due to the requirement that strains are protected from both exposure to ambient atmospheric gas and oxygen. The large size and maintenance requirements of liquid handling platforms poses further technical challenges, as these must be fully enclosed in an anaerobic environment, while still having the ability to supply fresh tips and other consumables. In addition, anaerobic conditions may affect the performance of liquid handling units as these are generally not tested for functionality under anaerobic conditions. Further, there are challenges in decontamination of these systems, as there is limited access to surfaces for manual disinfection and cleaning. We are therefore seeking a platform that can perform automated engineering (transformation, plat-ing, colony picking etc) of microbial strains under anaerobic conditions. In addition, it should have the capability to cultivate these strains under gas controlled conditions and allow removal of the sealed cultures for analytical analysis without perturbing the ongoing experiments. This should all be accomplished