ME Graduate Student-Led Research and Startup Unlocks New Potential for Genetics Research
Microinjection robot puts a thin stick into a petri dish with tiny dots in the center
The microinjection robot detects embryos that are one-hundredth the size of a grain of rice, calculates a path, and automates the process. Credit: Andrew Alegria, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

ME graduate students Andrew Alegria and Amey Joshi co-led research that resulted in a robot that uses machine learning to fully automate a complicated microinjection process used in genetic research. In their experiments, the researchers were able to use this automated robot to manipulate the genetics of multicellular organisms, including fruit fly and zebrafish embryos. The technology will save labs time and money while enabling them to more easily conduct new, large-scale genetic experiments that were not possible previously using manual techniques

The research is featured on the cover of the April 2024 issue of GENETICS, a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal. The team is also working to commercialize this technology to make it widely available through the University of Minnesota start-up company, Objective Biotechnology. 

Alegria and Joshi are members of Suhasa Kodandaramaiah's Biosensing and Biorobotics Lab. Kodandaramaiah is the senior author of the study.

Read the full CSE press release here.

Share