[6] Cloud labs utilize common scientific techniques including DNA sequencing and genotyping, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), protein extraction, plate reading, upstream bioprocessing, and western blotting.
[9][12][13] A true cloud lab is defined by five criteria:[14][15] High-throughput experimentation involves increasing throughput by scaling up the number of experiments that can be run in parallel using a common sample form factor and technique.
[16][17] When space or materials are limited, minor factors must be assigned to progressively smaller fractions to increase the number of replicates.
[19] For example, with a cloud lab, a scientist could simultaneously attempt dozens of different purification methods that each uses completely unique equipment sets.
To simplify laboratory testing, the group wrote centralized management software for their collection of scientific instruments and a database to store all metadata and results.
[27][3] In 2012, Transcriptic founded a robotic cloud laboratory for on-demand scientific research, which performed select tasks including DNA cloning remotely.
[30] The 20,000 square foot laboratory will be completed in 2023 and offer access to CMU researchers and eventually to other schools and life-sciences startups in Pittsburgh.
Cloud labs say that they review all scheduled experiments and can flag or reject any that appear illegal or dangerous, and that detailed record-keeping makes monitoring what is done easier than in a traditional laboratory.