Designing the laboratory of the future
state-of-the-art laboratory is that they generally don't have
access to a crystal ball to tell them exactly what will be at the
leading edge of technology in two to three years time - the average
time it takes to design and construct a facility, reports Phil
Taylor.
But William Ferguson, director of laboratory planning at consultancy CUH2A, believes that those involved in planning a new laboratory must make educated guesses on future technology trends that could have a significant impact on its operation.
Take a typical pharmaceutical R&D facility, with a cost of construction if around $30 million, says Ferguson. If you work out the lifetime costs of the laboratory, a staggering 85 per cent or more of the total will be spent on personnel - $770 million in this example - while the total cost of design and construction comes in at under 5 per cent.
"This tells you that anything you can do to increase the productivity of the personnel working in a lab will have a far more significant impact on the lifetime costs of the facility than the start-up costs of the project," notes Ferguson. In other words, investing in design at the outset reduces costs later on.
So what technologies might lab managers see in their crystal balls? Top of Ferguson's list is the rising emphasis on data management, as the adoption of high-throughput, industrial scale lab technologies leads to an explosion in the sheer volume of data that needs to be processed.
This means that careful consideration has to be given to not only the space devoted to informatics, but also to the changing ways in which personnel interact with computers and other electronic devices in the lab.
Second on the list is automation, something that is now taking over the lab after first being introduced around 15 years ago. Replacing manual techniques can boost throughput, hike precision and sensitivity and allow labs to be operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In the drug discovery environment, automation has already been applied in just about every stage of the process, from target selection and gene sequencing through compound preparation and storage, assays, screening and ADME (absorption, distribution excretion and metabolism) studies. Toxicology is the last remaining frontier in this setting, notes Ferguson, but in the future the demand for animal houses could be reduced by the use of microarrays for toxicology testing.
"Removing the need for a vivarium could cut the costs of pharmaceutical R&D facility upkeep by 75 per cent," he predicts.
Meanwhile, process chemistry is also starting to benefit from this trend, with small reactor array synthesis and sample handling technologies cutting the time it takes to perform this type of work from four to six weeks to a couple of days. Other benefits have included a cut in the volume of chemicals used, with reduced personnel exposure as a result, and smaller samples that require less exhaust.
This adoption of automation has already had a fundamental effect on lab design, for example accelerating the use of overheard service modules, which supply gases and other utilities, dedicated exhausts for fugitive vapours and gases, local chillers to cut the heat load from instruments, backup power supplies and networking just about everywhere. In time, predicts Ferguson, labs will be run from desktop computers operated in control rooms, with hardly any need for personnel to enter the lab itself.
Another trend already in evidence is the use of design to encourage scientists from different disciplines to interact and sharer ideas. In its simplest form this can be the adoption of an open-plan format and the use of 'networking hubs', where personnel can mingle with their colleagues, although open-plan brings its own difficulties in terms of contamination control, worker safety etc, notes Ferguson.
There is also a shift to greater demand for high-containment facilities, both as a consequence of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and as pharma companies push the boundaries of research into more potent compounds, smaller particles and biological products.
A lot has been written on the impact of nanotechnology on the pharmaceutical and other industries, not least because of the potential of nanoparticles for the delivery of active compounds. But safety issues relating to the use of these particles will increase the containment demands of cleanrooms, just as nanotechnology itself will feature in new lab control developments, according to Ferguson.
For instance, nanotechnology can be used to monitor the performance of HEPA filters and monitor and control airflow in the cleanroom through the use of particle counters. Simple, low-cost particle sensors could do away with the need to run HEPA filters day and night, he suggested.
Finally, the first signs are emerging of a shift towards just-in-time deliveries of consumables and supplies to the lab, which can dramatically reduce the amount of space that needs to be dedicated to storage and can reduce wastage. One possibility would be to have a storage area on-site that is operated and monitored by the vendor company's sales rep, who would replenish and charge the laboratory depending on the usage.
Other developments which have not yet emerged but are likely on the horizon include wireless sensors to warn of operator exposure to chemicals such as solvents and increased use of voice recognition software to reduce the need for writing and typing, according to Ferguson.
