Automation has made it possible to generate massive amounts of crystallization data. How can academic laboratories benefit from this to establish a best-practice procedure for small-scale throughput facilities?
The crystallization facility at Uppsala University processes 800 SBS-format plates per year, of which 73% are for the in-house structural biology groups. Our automation consists of two crystallization robots (Mosquito, Oryx), a desktop imaging system (CrystalMation), and a liquid-handling robot (Scorpion). Most of our groups work on structure-based drug design, which means dealing with (often insoluble) compounds intended for cocrystallization or soaking. In this lecture I will share experiences from our crystallization facility regarding:
Our experiences may be useful for other small-scale facilities hoping to gain the most crystallization information about their targets for the least amount of materials, time and effort.