Summary: Sapio Sciences has enhanced Sapio ELaiN, its AI-powered lab assistant, to streamline lab processes and improve efficiency by integrating advanced language models and natural language interfaces within the Sapio lab informatics platform.

Takeaways:

  1. AI Integration: Sapio ELaiN leverages advanced large language models to automate and simplify lab tasks, allowing scientists to interact using natural language, which accelerates processes and enhances productivity.
  2. Enhanced Lab Operations: The tool integrates with Sapio LIMS, ELN, and Jarvis to improve day-to-day lab functions, including data analysis, workflow configuration, and experiment design through natural language commands.
  3. Advanced Capabilities: New features include building and tracking experiments, integrating data from various instruments, generating visualizations, and executing Python code, all driven by conversational AI to support efficient and accurate scientific research.

Science-aware lab informatics platform Sapio Sciences announced significant enhancements to Sapio ELaiN, an AI-powered lab assistant that helps scientists streamline processes and work more efficiently.

AI-Powered Lab Assistant

Sapio ELaiN, now generally available after a successful beta launch in November 2023, combines the power of advanced large language models to support scientists and streamline time-consuming, repetitive, or tedious lab tasks and assist in interacting with scientific and analytical agents, enabling researchers to focus on high-value activities and accelerate scientific discovery.

Improving Day-to-Day Lab Operations

As part of the Sapio Lab Informatics Platform, Sapio ELaiN works seamlessly with Sapio LIMS, Sapio ELN, and Sapio Jarvis to simplify life in the lab, aiding scientists and lab operations in efficiently configuring processes and workflows, improving day-to-day operations, and enhancing data analysis and reporting.

Sapio ELaiN’s natural language interface allows users to use conversational prompts, in text or voice, to “ask” the LIMS or ELN to conduct tasks that previously required code-, mouse-, or menu-driven instructions. For example, through a natural language “chat,” ELaiN can help a medicinal chemist synthesize a new compound, or help a researcher design a complex experiment including complicated plate layouts.

“Since launching the beta of ELaiN in November, we have had incredible feedback and excitement from our customer base, enabling us to add new features and capabilities,” says Kevin Cramer, founder and CEO of Sapio Sciences. “Sapio ELaiN represents a huge step forward in making conversational AI the de facto user interface for scientists, significantly impacting the adoption and day-to-day usage of the informatics platform, the speed of drug discovery, and the productivity of lab operations.”

Sapio ELaiN has been explicitly trained on Sapio’s LIMS and ELN, enabling it to answer natural language questions about all aspects of experiments, assays, workflows, samples, materials, inventory, and almost any scientific data being worked on within the Sapio Platform. Additionally, Sapio ELaiN can take actions both within the system and with external agents.

“Achieving this level of AI requires it to be deeply integrated into the Sapio lab informatics platform,” Cramer added. “Our AI roots and configurable lab informatics platform provide the ideal foundations to realize these benefits quickly. Fundamentally, we are introducing two key capabilities. One is to make much of the lab notebook interface natural language-driven, and two is to introduce agentic capabilities to extend the large language model to utilize external tools to act as a scientific assistant to researchers.”

Capabilities of Sapio ELaiN 

New features and capabilities in Sapio ELaiN enable users to:

  • Build an entire experiment, including tracking materials, samples, instruments, and more.
  • Integrate data from instruments (e.g., tape stations, mass spectrometers, flow cytometers) into the ELN and LIMS.
  • Ask for visualizations of data tables within experiments.
  • Ask natural language scientific questions, have ELaiN find the best agent to answer the question, call it, and then return the results to your experiment. For example: “How might I synthesize this compound?”
  • Get instant support and assistance with the natural language user interface.
  • Generate Python code that interacts with the Sapio API.

Sapio ELaiN is now available as an add-on option to the Sapio Platform.

Photo: Sapio Sciences