Science & Engineering | News

Transcriptic Launches Science-as-a-Service Platform

• By Leila Meyer
• 07/21/14

Transcriptic, a cloud-based research services provider, has launched Transcriptic Platform, a programmable system for defining and executing experimental protocols for molecular and cell biology researchers.

According to the company, Transcriptic Platform includes a remote on-demand infrastructure and an API that lets researchers customize machine-readable experimentation protocols. Transcriptic aims to eliminate "the time-intensive manual labor component of laboratory research" through its automated lab infrastructure that lets researchers maintain control of their experiments and execute experimental protocols remotely.

"Transcriptic's mission is to provide the infrastructure necessary to lower costs, improve reproducibility and allow researchers to do the projects that right now they can only wish they could run," said Max Hodak, CEO of Transcriptic, in a prepared statement. "Scientists no longer have to purchase expensive equipment or be chained to the bench to run their experiments."

According to the company, Transcriptic's Common Lab Environment (TCLE) "combines proven hardware, innovative new software, and the human element," and the company also offers collaboration with a team of Ph.D. scientists and engineers who can support researchers through the process.

Key features of Transcription Platform include:

• Scalability to meet the needs of multiple clients simultaneously;
• Ability for researchers to run many projects in parallel; and
• Online interface for monitoring progress remotely and viewing quality control data.

The UC Davis Genome Center has already used Transcriptic "to outsource the creation and processing of samples for projects ranging from bio fuels to cancer therapies to specialty chemicals," according to the company.

"The building phase is a critical component to research, but can be extremely mundane, repetitive, and mindless," said Justin Siegel, assistant professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Molecular Medicine at the UC Davis Genome Center, in a prepared statement. "Using Transcriptic has fundamentally changed the way we approach research because we can rely on them to do that leg work, freeing up our students to spend more time on the creative aspects of research like design and building."

In related Transcriptic news, the company has also launched a Research Partnership Program for projects that produce a high volume of output. The program enables them to perform "a low-cost test run to ensure reliable results, and then receive a deep discount on scaling up their validated protocol," according to the company.

Transcriptic was founded in 2012 and has received funding from IA Ventures, Google Ventures, Data Collective, AME Cloud Ventures, Founders Fund and others.

Further information about the Transcriptic Platform can be found on the company's site.