Briefs

John Roach -- National Geographic News -- January 14, 2004

... A team of British scientists have created a "robot" that can formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and interpret results on par with the best of their human counterparts.

Called the "robot scientist," the technological marvel proved its intellectual prowess by correctly determining the function of specific genes within yeast.

By observing how the knockout strains grow, or don't grow, it is possible to devise various theories for the function of the knocked-out gene.

The robot scientist, equipped with a wealth of information about biochemistry and sophisticated AI software, watches the yeast grow, generates a set of hypotheses concerning the function of the gene in question, and then plans an experiment that will eliminate as many of the hypotheses as quickly and cheaply as possible.

The robot then conducts experiments by dispensing and mixing liquids using one machine and measures the growth of yeast with a second machine that feeds the results back into the system. It then evaluates the results against the set of hypotheses, generates new hypotheses, and the process starts again.

According to the paper, the robot provides important insight to the scientific process, a process in which automation is both inevitable and desirable.

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