High-Throughput Technologies: Exploring Advances and Key Applications – Technology Networks

Technological advances have been pivotal in expanding scientific research and contributing to an exponential increase in data output. A primary factor contributing to the rise in data output has been the shift from manual bench work to high-throughput technologies. In addition, the generation of such enormous volumes of data has led to breakthroughs in microprocessing, data management and AI used to interpret the data. These advances have further spurred the development of high-throughput laboratory technologies to keep pace with data processing speeds.1 As such, high-throughput technologies have become crucial to research areas, including drug discovery, genomics, and molecular biology.

High-throughput technologies have enabled researchers to take on ambitious projects that are expected to transform medicine. For example, Prof. Michael Snyder, chair of the department of genetics and directors of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford Medicine, is currently running the Integrated Personal Omics Profiling (iPOP) study. iPOP involves undertaking unprecedented deep biochemical profiling of approximately 100 individuals generally classed as healthy. In doing so, the study hopes to determine what normal biochemical and physiological profiles look like at an individual level. This information will enable researchers to understand what processes are affected in various disease states and ultimately improve diagnoses, disease monitoring, and the success of targeted therapies. When asked about the role of high-throughput technologies in this study, Snyder said, nearly all assays are high throughput, including genomics approaches, many other omics assays and wearables. We believe that genome sequencing and other omics technologies, as well as wearables, will be routinely employed by the healthcare sector. Most importantly, we hope to transform what is presently sick care into healthcare where we focus on keeping people healthy rather than treating people when they are ill.

High-throughput systems are well established in drug discovery, where hundreds of thousands of potential drug candidates need to be screened.1 In addition, high-throughput sequencing technologies have transformed genetics and genomics, with over one million human genomes sequenced by 2020.2 This sequence data has provided the pharmaceutical industry with many potential drug targets that warrant further exploration, fueling the need for greater throughput.3One of the main mechanisms of increasing throughput is miniaturization, as smaller experimental platforms and the need for reduced reagent volumes will allow more experiments to be conducted with fewer resources, thereby lowering costs.4,5 The push to miniaturize experiments has given rise to microfluidics, which investigates and manipulates fluids at the submillimeter scale. Working with smaller sample and reagent volumes is also advantageous when working with precious samples. In addition, microfluidics also leverages the microscale fluid phenomena, giving researchers far greater control over the spatiotemporal dynamics that impact the experiment.6Other technologies that enable high-throughput include automation, robotics, and liquid-handling robotics. This article will explore how high-throughput technologies are continuing to advance research in the life sciences. It will also and highlight various areas directly benefiting, including drug discovery, genomics and molecular biology.

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High-Throughput Technologies: Exploring Advances and Key Applications - Technology Networks