CABBI researcher use robots to accelerate plant engineering in biofoundary

In Illinois, a team of researchers at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) have found a way to use robots to accelerate plant engineering. Researchers deployed a biofoundry – a laboratory that integrates robotics, computer-aided design, and information science. With this tool, they made genetically engineered plants that produced more oil in plant cells and even whole plants.

This fast, automated, scalable, high-throughput pipeline is called FAST-PB. Scientists can scale it up to improve the speed and productivity of synthetic plant biology, genome editing, and metabolic engineering. This advance will help scientists quickly improve valuable plant traits.