Agata Mikołajczyk is a doctor in veterinary medicine working as a researcher at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. We sat with Agata to learn how LabTwin supports her research on understanding bacterial pathogenicity in poultry.
Which digital tools do you currently use in your work?
I use a computer and smartphone to manage my experiments and report my research results.
How do you currently manage your data?
I have a lab book and also manage my data by typing protocols on the computer, printing them out and manually adding notes to the printouts during my experiments.
What do you think research labs will look like in 5 years time?
In 5 years, some procedures will be automated and researchers will act more like supervisors. It will mainly depend on each lab’s field of expertise as well as the region and its development level.
Why did you decide to join LabTwin’s ambassador program, Twenty Nine?
I believe that LabTwin is a great tool with big potential to improve research in labs worldwide.
What do you like most about LabTwin's voice-activated digital lab assistant?
My research greatly benefits from being able to listen to LabTwin read out my protocols while working at the bench where my hands are often busy handling reagents and samples. I also enjoy having the opportunity to add comments to protocols and SOPs during my experiments, by speaking to LabTwin’s digital lab assistant.
What workflows and use cases would you like LabTwin to support?
Protein extraction for sure since it is a lengthy process with a lot of steps and check points. Also qPCR, kinetics, and all cell metabolic assays where there are also a lot of validation processes.
What benefits could LabTwin’s digital lab assistant provide researchers in your team or your organization?
I believe that LabTwin has many powerful features that could benefit the scientific community, including:
> Having all protocols and information stored and organized in one place
> How the read-back protocol function eliminates interruptions and decreases the chances of making mistakes
> The possibility of changing or adding data in 'real time' to avoid post-experiment documentation
> How researchers can rely on data and obtain real time results which lead to more scientifically-driven conclusions, and therefore, better reproducibility
> Voice commands support scientists in keeping a sterile workflow when needed
> The reminders feature is quite useful for logging and scheduling equipment maintenance
What are your thoughts on LabTwin's impact on research reproducibility and quality control?
LabTwin can improve the accuracy and reproducibility of research processes. Also, the ability to systematically analyze more data and cases can improve objectivity and provide a larger view of experimental results. Researchers can act as supervisors who look over the results together thanks to a holistic view of their workflow. Additionally, mobile applications like LabTwin should be able to motivate and look after the mental health of lab personnel since this is a rising concern in research institutions worldwide.
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