Ginkgo Automation to Power Biofuels Research at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center

Ginkgo Automation to Power Biofuels Research at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center

Ginkgo Automation is set to design and deploy a flexible, anaerobic-enabled laboratory automation system for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The system is intended to accelerate the discovery and optimization of sustainable biofuels and bioproducts from plant biomass.

GLBRC's mission requires flexible and robust research infrastructure due to the diverse scientific challenges tackled by numerous investigators. The automation system, which is anaerobic-capable, is designed to enable scientists to run multiple, diverse experiments simultaneously, supporting both aerotolerant and anaerobic conditions. By consolidating these diverse needs into a single, flexible system, Ginkgo expects to help GLBRC advance its mission toward cost-effective, sustainable biofuel production.

The system is built on Ginkgo’s capabilities, which include significant prior experience in automating workflows for anaerobic organisms. The result is a customizable, future-forward system that can be easily adapted to meet emerging research needs and support more complex workflows.

In addition to hardware and software, the deployment includes access to Ginkgo’s support offering, a fully remote, active error resolution and troubleshooting support service. This proactive monitoring is expected to enable Ginkgo's team to identify and resolve approximately 80-90% of system errors remotely. This remote recovery is especially critical when working in an anaerobic chamber, as it minimizes disruptive environmental breaches, allowing investigators to achieve extended "walkaway" time and focus on innovation rather than maintenance.

Key Themes from the GLBRC Partnership:

• Anaerobic-Enabled Flexibility: The customizable system supports diverse, multi-user experiments under both aerotolerant and anaerobic conditions simultaneously.
• Extended Walkaway Time: The automation increases "walkaway" time, enabling investigators to focus more on data interpretation and experiment planning rather than routine lab tasks.
• Advanced Remote Support: The system includes Catalyst Flow, a remote support service expected to resolve 80-90% of system errors, which is critical for maintaining uptime in sensitive anaerobic environments.