Automation and Screening

This chapter addresses the logistical challenges that occur when an assay is used to develop a screen, including the impact of automation on the assay, and the choice of metric that may be necessary when scaling up for higher throughput. Automation is essential for screening, it also has uses in general assays as well. There are two approaches to automating multistep assays: workstation and fully automated. The use of barcodes on high content assay plates is an important consideration, especially for higher throughput needs. Deploying an automated HCS system will be a costly and time‐consuming process. It is therefore important to select not only the equipment and systems that can perform your assay but the correct vendor. Automation is something that can be used by any HCS laboratory, regardless of scale, to minimize technical complications that can be more acute in imaging assays.