The Power of Open Source in Biology - DAMP Labs’ $10,000 Biofactory

A robust biofactory doesn’t require a multi-million dollar investment—affordable open source tools make these capabilities possible for every lab.

The DAMP Lab is a start-up biofactory within the Boston University Biodesign Center. The lab provides 30 synthetic biology solutions (such as DNA assembly, transformation, sequencing, and plasmid purification) to the scientific community for a service fee using only less than $10,000 in open source software and hardware. Any scientist can specify an experimental plan remotely by accessing DAMP Labs’ web interface, and its automated system can design, build and test the plan.

How did they do it?

By integrating a range of open source tools, DAMP Labs was able to quickly develop a complex system that efficiently and elegantly automates biological circuit testing. Some of these key open source tools include:

• cello 使用Verilog编程语言实现生物回路的自动化设计。
• aquarium 用于实验室信息管理系统（LIMS），实现作业排队和库存管理。
• open TR ONS 的OT-2移液机器人：用于自动化DNA组装、转化和其他许多方案。

You can learn more about the DAMP Labs technology stack on the Synbiobeta Blog.

Why are DAMP Labs’ biofactories and open source technology so important?

DAMP Labs talks about open source technology and the capabilities it gives in the video.

This project demonstrates the power of open source software and hardware in the lab. If all these processes were performed manually, it would take the DAMP lab a week to design, build and test 10 genetic circuits. By investing relatively little money in open source technology, DAMP Labs increased throughput by a factor of 10.

As a result, DAMP Labs is able to perform 10 times more experiments with the same facilities and team. Open source tools improve productivity and significantly reduce the cost of performing complex experiments.

A robust biofactory doesn’t require a multi-million dollar investment—affordable open source tools make these capabilities possible for every lab.