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Drosophila melanogaster, better known as the fruit fly, might seem like a run-of-the-mill pest. These insects, however, are critical for ongoing research into various neurological diseases at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Fruit flies are so important for this research because they share 75% of the genes that cause diseases in humans, breed quickly, and scientists can easily change their DNA code, according to UC Davis. Handling these fruit flies in the lab, however, can be a tricky endeavor. 

ABB Robotics and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital have created an automated fruit fly transfer workstation. The system features ABB’s dual-arm YuMi collaborative robot to aid the study of diseases including Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s. 

The company said this is the first automated system that does not require the flies to be immobilized with anesthetics such as carbon dioxide before transfer. The anesthesia stage is a tedious step in previous systems, which can harm the behavior of the flies and the accuracy of study results.

“We have seen significant strides in lab automation over the years, yet some crucial tasks are still performed manually, which can impact results,” stated Jose-Manuel Collados, manager of the ABB Service Robotics Product Line. “Our YuMi cobot’s arms work independently but in a coordinated way, making it possible to automate the complex task of transferring live flies between vials.”

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Transferring fruit flies between vials is a tricky task

As part of routine maintenance, Texas Children’s Hospital researchers feed fruit flies by transferring them into vials containing food every 30 days. A typical lab maintains around 20,000 vials, meaning researchers spend 20% of a workday “flipping flies” by placing a vial containing the fly stock over a vial with fresh food, and then tapping it to drop the flies. 

All previous attempts to automate the process to date involved exposing the flies outside the vials during transfer, hence requiring sedation, ABB said. The new system can also improve the accuracy of results and speed up the transfer process, noted ABB Robotics.

Engineers from ABB collaborated with researchers at Duncan NRI to design and build a fly transfer workstation, which includes the YuMi cobot, a table stacked with vials for transfer, a barcode and labeling unit, and a trash chute.

ABB’s YuMi cobot performs the same movements as human researchers to tap and transfer the flies between vials. This allows scientists to focus on mission-critical tasks such as the discovery of new pathways and testing the efficacy of new drugs in treating neurological disorders.

YuMi enables meticulous tracking at Texas Children’s Hospital

The YuMi handles the entire process of flipping fruit flies, which includes performing 10 pre-programmed steps in quick succession. Just like humans, the robot picks up a vial containing live flies, opens the protective cellulose acetate plug, places the vial over one with fresh food, and taps the vial to transfer the flies.

It then caps, labels, and scans the vial and finally stacks it in cardboard racks. The robot then discards the vials with old food to avoid any cross-contamination.

One standout feature of the system, according to ABB, is its capability to read barcodes and print labels. Researchers use these labels to identify strain and genotype information during the transfer. This feature ensures meticulous tracking and management of the Drosophila strains.

The robot’s advanced sensing technologies enable precise placement of vials within standard cardboard racks, granting researchers the option of continuing to use existing vial racks, reducing operational costs for Texas Children’s Hospital.

ABB said it engineered this system to be cooperative and safe for human interaction. Its motion-sensing arms are equipped to detect nearby humans or objects, halting movement instantly to prevent accidents, thereby allowing for a safe collaborative workspace.