Shaking up the lab of the future
15 Dec 2021
From testing and drug discovery to vaccine rollout, collaboration and open innovation have been vital in accelerating scientific progress over the past year, but Dr Kath Mackay considers how AI and robotics will really shape the way we work and challenge the status quo in the laboratory...
Whilst AI and robotics can and will unlock answers and speed up discoveries, human knowledge is vital to the learning process.
The past 12 months have seen a focus on strict levels of cleanliness. The introduction of thermal cameras and remote, touch free access controls have all become the norm in lab design, but it’s the welcoming of AI and robotics which will be the gamechanger in how we work in, and with, the lab.
Envisioning the ‘lab of the future’ often evokes images of flash lighting and automated, spaceship-esque machines but in reality, the physical attributes of the lab of the future may not look so different. The future is in the data - in how we work with technology to enhance the research.
Last year, IBM launched a self-driving lab at its research facility in Zurich that combines AI with robotics. Their RoboRXN system can in theory allow scientists to make remote requests for the robot to perform automated chemistry. Closer to home, researchers from the University of Liverpool have used machine learning to predict more than 20,000 unknown associations between viruses and mammals. The future is now, and much like research and science, trial and error is key. Whilst AI and robotics can and will unlock answers and speed up discoveries, human knowledge is vital to the learning process and most researchers agree that this will not be dissolved. Personally, I envisage an automated laboratory which has a penetrable human frontier. The lab of the future won’t appear in a silo - it’s a cocktail of physical and virtual spaces - spaces that facilitate collaboration and multidisciplinary science.
As property providers, we have recognised the need to create a full package of high spec ready-to-go laboratories and office space, with access to inspiring breakout, meeting and event spaces. Spaces that meet these requirements are vital in allowing companies, people, and ideas to flow freely. To achieve this, we work with companies on designing automation systems, space planning for robotics, supporting wearable tech innovations, and enhancing HVAC and ventilation systems to allow for the intensified heat produced from new technologies.
With a bigger focus on digitisation to analyse and predict outcomes, there’s also a new need to attract and integrate companies and people with digital and tech skills and services. At one of our parks, we’ve developed a 150,000sq ft technology hub to encourage the exchange of ideas and people between tech and life science. It’s this coexistence of ideas and people that will create the ‘future lab’ and accelerate the science of tomorrow.
Many of the ingredients of the future lab cocktail are ready to shake up - but much like AI itself, it’s a case of learning over time, adapting and continuing to explore the possibilities. The future is now.
Author: Dr Kath Mackay is Director for Life Sciences at Bruntwood SciTech bruntwood.co.uk/scitech
