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Microbial Molecular Phenotyping Capability

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory’s (EMSL’s) forthcoming Microbial Molecular Phenotyping Capability (M2PC) will offer an integrated suite of automated phenotyping instrumentation and analytical tools that unlocks functional knowledge about microbial and microbiome communities of critical importance to the Department of Energy, Office of Science’s Biological and Environmental Research program. 

Researchers will be able to discover and assign new microbial functions at a scale and pace matching that of next-generation gene sequencing technologies. M2PC will 

  • improve understanding about microbial sciences 

  • impact the production of biofuels and bioproducts 

  • generate insights into how microbes respond to changes in the environment. 

EMSL will provide a range of 24,500–50,000 gross square feet of instrumentation and support spaces for M2PC’s highly autonomous operations. The facility will include analytical instrumentation, microbial culturing, and characterization resources operating in an automated pod. 

 

Interior illustration of the Microbial Molecular Phenotyping Capability (M2PC), including cell culture stations, automated connectivity, media prep, phenotyping assays, sample prep, functional assays, mathematical models, database
The challenge is to connect microbial traits with the dynamic behavior of genes, proteins, and metabolites. Closing the knowledge gap on how countless pathways interact and then connecting those pathways to observed traits require analytical power well beyond what we can do in our lifetime with current tools. M2PC will provide an integrated suite of automated phenotyping instrumentation and analytical tools needed by the scientific community to close this knowledge gap and open endless opportunity for emergent science to accelerate discovery. (Illustration by Nathan Johnson | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

M2PC Timeline 

  • Office of Science approves M2PC: FY 2024 

  • Contracts to be awarded: FY 2026 

  • Groundbreaking: FY 2026 

  • Open to EMSL users: FY 2029 

Contact

Scott Baker, Microbial Molecular Phenotyping Leader