Streamlining the Modern Lab

Extract

Imagine what a researcher 50 years ago would think of the technology available in today's modern research labs, where the ability to photograph and videotape live cell images in high resolution has spurred numerous advances in the sciences. Additionally, technology's shift from analog to digital image acquisition has enhanced scientific collaboration and analysis abilities, perhaps in ways our predecessors could never have imagined. However, the massive quantities of data that result from these image acquisition techniques, and subsequent storage requirements, have created unforeseen challenges. While we describe life science applications, the methods described in this article are equally applicable in physical sciences laboratories.