Automating Biology Using Robot Scientists
Aug 17, 2012 5697 views 
A robot scientist is a physically implemented robotic system that applies techniques from artificial intelligence to execute cycles of automated scientific experimentation. A Robot Scientist can automatically execute cycles of: hypothesis formation, selection of efficient experiments to discriminate between hypotheses, execution of experiments using laboratory automation equipment, and analysis of results. We developed the robot scientist Adam to investigate yeast functional genomics. Adam is the first time a machine has discovered novel scientific knowledge. This knowledge is described in a formal argument involving over 10,000 different research units that relates Adam's 6.6 million observations to its conclusions. Our new robot scientist Eve applies the same approach to drug design. Eve has efficiently found "lead compounds" for malaria and other neglected tropical diseases.