JACKSON, Wyo. — A liquid-handling robot has been gifted to Brain Chemistry Labs to assist with ALS research, the Lab announced Thursday.
Brain Chemistry Labs is a nonprofit research laboratory in Jackson focusing on new treatments for neurological diseases.
The robot was a donation from the Dr. Denis R. Lyman & Diane K. Robards Lyman Foundation. It is capable of automated pipetting, which increases analysis speed and reduces human error in sample preparation.
Lab staff have nicknamed the robot “Nevada,” named after Nevada Robards, the first volunteer at Brain Chemistry Labs and mother of Diane Robards Lyman.
This robot is intended to speed up the diagnosis of ALS in patients, working on the test developed at Brain Chemistry Labs that validates microRNA from extracellular vesicles in the bloodstream. The lab’s Dr. Sandra Banack and Dr. Rachael Dunlop are focusing on five specific microRNA sequences that distinguish ALS patients from those without the disease.
“The gift of a liquid-handling robot from the Dr. Denis R Lyman & Diane K Robards
Lyman Foundation moves the diagnostic test one step closer to high throughput,
thereby making it an attractive prospect for licensing by a pharmaceutical company,” the lab said via press release.
