Approaches to automation for high-throughput screening

Automation of high-throughput screening (HTS) assays can occur by one of two approaches. One involves design and implementation of systems employing robot arms for the tasks that comprise an assay. While this approach may offer excellent capacity it usually Sakes time and large capital outlays to implement, debug, and maintain. Such systems also require specialists for operation and maintenance. The other approach is more stepwise in nature. It involves acquisition of automated workstations from different vendors and installing them in a concatenated fashion to comprise an assay protocol. This method is a more straightforward approach to establishing a turnkey HTS facility As the fully automated approach is termed robotic, the stepwise method may be termed hubotic, insofar as if reflects the synergies obtainable by allowing people to provide the work flow between optimized laboratory workstations. Specific examples of these approaches will be described for different aspects of HTS, particularly for running complex cell-based assays. In addition, emerging robotic systems that are capable of ultrahigh-throughput screening capacities and utilize novel design principles will be discussed. We term these ubotic HTS approaches. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.