Opentrons Customer Interview | Dr. Annabel Shang, MilliporeSigma

Dr. Annabel Shang is responsible for developing antibody drugs at MilliporeSigma. She conducts antibody drug discovery by performing ELISA experiments using an Opentrons OT-2 pipetting robot.

Dr. Annabel Shang opens a new chapter in antibody drug development at MilliporeSigma, a company dedicated to making scientific research and biotechnology production simpler, faster and safer. Dr. Annabel Shang's research and development process involves a lot of pipetting, and since February 2019, Opentrons OT-2< /a> Already capable of completing such tasks proficiently. In this issue, we interviewed Dr. Annabel and let us learn how OT-2 helps her optimize processes and improve work efficiency.

Opentrons: Please introduce your research background. Annabel Shang: I am a scientist engaged in membrane chromatography research and protein purification R&D. I received my PhD in chemical engineering from McMaster University.

Opentrons: What is your current main research project? Annabel: Since joining MilliporeSigma two years ago, I have focused on developing antibody drugs and using ELISAs (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays) to test substances such as antibodies and proteins. Detection and quantitative research.

Opentrons: What is your daily routine in the lab? Annabel: We need to ensure that sample impurities are kept to a minimum and use OT-2 for host cell protein (HCP) and Protein A ELISA kit purity testing technology. These operations require extensive pipetting and dilution.

Opentrons: What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of OT-2? Annabel: Purity testing is not part of our routine, but we do up to three such tests in a week. We need to manually dilute the sample and transfer it to a microplate. This is the most painful step and takes at least two hours. Previously, doing an ELISA test took a full day.

When I let the OT-2 run these tasks itself, I save two hours of tedious sample dilution and liquid transfer time per assay.

Now, the robot frees my hands. My time no longer needs to be occupied by ELISA; I can set up the protocol and leave. When I let the OT-2 run these tasks itself, I save two hours of tedious sample dilution and liquid transfer time per assay. This is much faster than if I were to do it by hand, and also allows me to use the waiting time more efficiently to do other work while running the ELISA test.

I'm also very happy with its accuracy, which is higher than manual testing and reduces a lot of unnecessary duplication of work.

Opentrons: Can you tell us more about how the OT-2 frees up your hands? Annabel: Doing these ELISA tests requires a lot of arm movement and finger pressure, and staying in the same position for a long time can easily cause neck and back pain. They also require a high degree of concentration and energy, which can be tiring. But with the OT-2, almost no physical or mental effort is required, which is great for people with neck and back problems and also helps maintain our focus and energy levels.

Opentrons: Did you encounter any difficulties setting up the OT-2? Annabel: We did encounter some difficulties. During the initial calibration, the tip is supposed to move over the sensor, contact five points and then pop off, but after touching one of the points, the tip does not pop off but presses deep, causing the tip to bend. Opentrons tech support sent me a new sensor and it's working fine so far.

I'm very happy with Opentrons' technical support; they're very responsive, they're great and patient, and they're really trying to help me solve my problem. It's nice to have help like this when you know nothing about your device and are on your own.

Opentrons: Did you use any laboratory automation equipment before using the OT-2? Annabel: No, I don’t have any experience with laboratory automation equipment. I've always done pipetting manually and it's a very tedious job.

Opentrons: Do you have any other automation projects planned? Annabel: No. We mainly use OT-2 for ELISA kit testing. Currently, I don't see other applications, but we are happy to use it to handle such tedious tasks.

Opentrons: Is there anything else you would like to share with everyone about using OT-2? Annabel: This device looks very nice. It makes our lab look modern. Everyone is interested in it. They would keep asking me “What is this?” and “What can you do with it?” and they got really excited when they saw the pipetting arm moving.