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TidyTron: Reducing lab waste using validated wash-and-reuse protocols for common plasticware in Opentrons OT-2 lab
John A Bryant1, Cameron Longmire1, Sriya Sridhar1
1Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States.
SLAS Technology
|September 11, 2023
Summary
Biotechnology labs generate millions of tons of plastic waste annually. This study introduces TidyTron, an automated system for cleaning and reusing lab plastics, enhancing sustainability and reducing research costs.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology
- Environmental Sustainability in Research
- Laboratory Automation and Robotics
Background:
- Biotechnology labs produce substantial plastic waste (~5.5 million tons/year).
- Increasing synthetic biology scale will escalate plastic consumption.
- Manual decontamination of single-use plastics is impractical due to low throughput and inconsistent quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate open-source, automated protocols for cleaning and reusing laboratory plasticware.
- To reduce plastic waste and recurring costs in biological research.
- To provide a practical, high-throughput solution for plastic decontamination using low-cost robotics.
Main Methods:
- Developed TidyTron, a library of protocols for cleaning micropipette tips and microtiter plates.
- Tested various cleaning solutions, contact times, and agitation methods.
- Validated cleaning effectiveness by assessing residual contamination (cells, DNA, cleaning solutions) using plating, qPCR, and flow cytometry.
Main Results:
- TidyTron protocols effectively decontaminate plasticware from DNA, E. coli, and S. cerevisiae.
- Optimized cleaning procedures minimize time and cost while ensuring high stringency and sustainability.
- Validated cleaning procedures demonstrated comparable performance to fresh plasticware.
Conclusions:
- TidyTron offers a validated, open-source solution for automated decontamination and reuse of single-use plastics.
- This approach significantly enhances sustainability and reduces operational costs in biotechnology research.
- The TidyTron protocols and GUI are publicly available to facilitate adoption in biofoundries.
