Belgian Life Sciences Laboratory VIB uses OT-2 for automated NGS library preparation

Stephane Plaisance, a molecular biologist at VIB, is an advocate for introducing automation technology to improve the laboratory's NGS library preparation workflow for long-read and short-read sequencing.

As the demand for sequencing services grows, laboratories need to find ways to significantly increase work capacity. Laboratory automation is an effective measure to simplify and expand sequencing operations. Molecular biology at VIB Nucleomics, one of Belgium's leading life sciences institutes Stephane Plaisance chose Opentrons automated pipetting platform to improve the efficiency of NGS library preparation in the laboratory.

Complex and tedious laboratory work limits laboratory efficiency

VIB Nucleomics is a sequencing-focused research institute dedicated to serving VIB researchers as well as external academic and industrial researchers working in a variety of life science disciplines.

Stephane Plaisance, NGS analysis specialist at VIB, works with nine other laboratory scientists on experimental work, including NGS library preparation, long-read and short-read sequencing on different platforms, and whole-genome expression analysis. A few years ago, his team faced the problem of low experimental output efficiency. Lengthy and tedious pipetting operations limited their productivity and put stress on their lab technicians. They wanted to use automation to improve workflow, but many large NGS robots at the time did not have the capabilities to adapt to the diversity of lab projects.

"We started looking at larger, more expensive robots, but these are better suited for high-throughput day-to-day work, and we need to adapt our processes to each project we take on. This is why we ultimately chose Opentrons, It’s highly flexible and cost-effective”

–Stephane Plaisance

VIB integrates laboratory automation into core sequencing workflows

After conducting a comprehensive market analysis and evaluating the product's cost performance and flexibility of use, Stephane selected the Opentrons OT-2 automated pipetting robot. OT-2 was well received by laboratory staff. Based on the specific application needs of the laboratory, they gradually adjusted the experimental process protocol that is most suitable for the laboratory. Less than two years after they purchased their first OT-2, VIB Nucleomics purchased four more and now has five OT-2 automated pipetting robots assisting them with different laboratory tasks. Three of them are used for Illumina NGS library preparation and are responsible for automated PCR pre-processing and post-processing.

"For Illumina DNA library preparation, we do initial sample processing on one OT-2 in a dedicated PCR prep lab, then we take the plates out of that room for PCR, and then we use a second OT-2 performs PCR post-processing work ”

–Stephane Plaisance

One OT-2 is used for research and development, and the last OT-2 is used for remixing samples after library preparation. The flexibility of OT-2 and the product support provided by the Opentrons team, coupled with the creativity of the Plaisance and VIB teams, made investing in this facility to advance laboratory automation a huge success. At the same time, a metagenomic project containing 10,000 samples has been successfully executed using the OT-2 pipeline, and more large-scale projects are coming soon!

Learn more about automating NGS library preparation on the OT-2.