Robot Brings Patch-Clamping To the Masses

scibri writes about robots helping neuroscientists dig into the brains of (animal) test subjects. From the article: "Robots designed to perform whole-cell patch-clamping, a difficult but powerful method that allows neuroscientists to access neurons' internal electrical workings, could make the tricky technique commonplace. Scientists from MIT have designed a robot that can record electrical currents in up to 4 neurons in the brains of anesthetized mice (abstract) at once, and they hope to extend it to up to 100 at a time. The robot finds its target on the basis of characteristic changes in the electrical environment near neurons. Then, the device nicks the cell's membrane and seals itself around the tiny hole to access the neuron's contents."

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Re:Patch-Clamping To the Masses

[Un pobre guey]

I saw it done in grad school, in Mexico. It definitely looked like it required serious ninja lab skills. On a grander scale, automating such tricky and delicate maneuvers will revolutionize all of the sciences. The great 20th century scientific techniques will be subsumed to an invisible stratum hidden inside machines. 21st century scientists will use those as building blocks and tools. They will each be standing on the shoulders of several generations of scientists. Unbelievably scary, unbelievably cool.