Agricultural biotech BW Fusion began life as Biodyne, a Florida-based environmental microbiology company founded by microbiologist and plant physiologist Fred Farley in 1989. The company initially focused on the isolation of microbes from locations such as gas fields and areas that had suffered oil spills, remediating soils to resolve the associated environmental issues. Over time, bioremediation was complemented by biofertilizers – promoting expansion into the plant growth and health arena – and the company also entered the agricultural field. Laboratory services at BW Fusion have also evolved over this time, transforming from a quality control operation into an R&D organization for new product development and process optimization. Today, the lab makes extensive use of benchtop bioreactors to explore process scale-up and scale-down models, as well as testing the compatibility of biological and non-biological products with various microorganisms.

Liquid handling solutions for today’s laboratory

The dramatic expansion of the lab’s remit made it increasingly difficult to achieve everything with its existing liquid handling capabilities. This led the lab to explore the benefits of pipetting and automation solutions from INTEGRA, as Fermentation Scientist Zach Biddle explained: “We started with EVOLVE single channel pipettes, and the quality of the pipettes and tips was so much nicer than we’d had previously. However, many of our R&D processes involve a lot of transfers between microcentrifuge tubes and microplates, which have different spacing. This meant making multiple individual transfers with a single channel pipette, which was very time consuming. We acquired a VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipette to address this challenge, and it was a real game changer. It is intuitive to use, and so easy to adjust the spacing to simultaneously transfer several samples between labware of different formats.”

Automation to streamline research

BW Fusion continuously looks for ways to streamline its workflows and increase cost efficiency in its R&D pipeline. Serial dilution and plating are a vital part of these processes, along with high throughput microplate-based assays. These routine activities are well suited to automation and, with the VOYAGER pipettes having already proved a huge boost for the lab, it was a natural choice for BW Fusion to turn to INTEGRA for this too. An INTEGRA representative visited the lab to demonstrate the ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot, allowing the team to explore the benefits of the system and gain hands-on experience of running samples. Zach continued: “As our focus turned to higher throughput, we realized that automation was essential to save time. Streamlining our processes with the ASSIST PLUS and VOYAGER pipette has been phenomenal. It is invaluable for tasks such as filling dilution tubes and performing serial dilutions, as it frees up a full-time staff member, relieving them from tedious and time-consuming manual pipetting while guaranteeing that the task is performed exactly the same way each time. There's obviously way more we can do with it in terms of building out assays – although we’re not quite there yet – but simply automating a few mundane tasks has been massive, freeing staff to focus on the science.” 

Simplicity of use is key

The BW Fusion team found the VOYAGER and ASSIST PLUS straightforward to implement, enabling them to quickly reap the benefits of automated processing. “Complexity can be a bar to adoption, with people afraid that the system will be too complicated to even get started,” said Zach. “We’ve found it very easy to use the VOYAGER and ASSIST PLUS, and needed just half a day of training to get up to speed. The software is an intuitive open platform that is free to use, so anyone in the lab can install it on their computer and easily build their own processes. Crucially, you can simulate the program on the computer to show you exactly what's going to happen. That allows you to model the protocol to identify and correct any programming errors, avoiding wasting time and reagents, which is awesome. It brings a beautiful simplicity to something that's so complex.”

Aliquoting made easy

BW Fusion has also invested in a DOSE IT peristaltic pump and PIPETBOY GENIUS intelligent serological pipet controller alongside its INTEGRA pipettes and automation solutions. The team finds the DOSE IT peristaltic pump ideal for rapid and efficient removal of liquid from bioreactors, as well as preparation of TSA plates, where sterile and consistent dispensing into Petri dishes is critical. The PIPETBOY GENIUS has proved invaluable for serological pipetting of larger volumes into culture flasks, removing the need for multiple tedious transfers of smaller aliquots. Zach described the benefits: “The DOSE IT and PIPETBOY GENIUS have been great. We use the DOSE IT for so much more than pumping liquid out of bioreactors and preparing TSA plates, it’s so versatile. For example, when we send out samples for field trials, it is vital that the bottles contain equal and consistent volumes, and that the contents remain sterile in transit. The DOSE IT, used with a foot pedal, has been brilliant for this. We set it to the required volume and have confidence that every dose will be identical. When you are preparing 200 bottles at a time, it is so much faster than using a serological pipette. Meanwhile, the PIPETBOY GENIUS is hugely beneficial for the preparation of culture flasks, allowing us to dispense 100 milliliters at a time.”

Consistency drives success

Consistency is essential in any R&D process, as it is vital that each task is performed in exactly the same way every time for reliable results. “Consistency is crucial for our experiments. Without it, you can have a situation where one person achieves excellent results that another person is unable to repeat. Our INTEGRA solutions have allowed us to build reproducibility and consistency into our workflows, which is a huge benefit,” Zach concluded.