The Protein Folding Problem – is it Solved?

In CASP14, DeepMind presented the results of AlphaFold, a deep neural network designed for protein structure prediction. During the experiment, AlphaFold predicted structures with an average deviation of  ~1 Å from the C-alpha atoms of experimentally solved structures. Now, ~1 Å is often also used as the resolution to denote high accuracy experimental structures (they […]

Digitizing Analytical Methods: Integration for the Age of Automation

Storing, searching, and retrieving methods across a company or collaboration is often unnecessarily complex and time-consuming. To address this common barrier to efficient research, Agilent and ZONTAL worked together to develop a successful solution and presented their results at the 2020 Fall Allotrope Connect Conference. In their webinar called “Seamless Integration of OpenLab CDS with ZONTAL […]

Storing, searching, and retrieving methods across a company or collaboration is often unnecessarily complex and time-consuming. To address this common barrier to efficient research, Agilent and ZONTAL worked together to develop a successful solution and presented their results at the 2020 Fall Allotrope Connect Conference. In their webinar called “Seamless Integration of OpenLab CDS with ZONTAL Space: Implementing the Pistoia Method Model,” ZONTAL CEO Wolfgang Colsman, Agilent Product Marketing Manager Ralph Mueller, and Agilent R&D Lab Informatics System Architect Heiko Fessenmayr explained their processes and shared a live demo of their solution.

Download the key takeaways from this presentation.

Applying the Methods Database project presented at last year’s conference, their integration of OpenLab CDS and ZONTAL Space replaces paper-based method description with a digital form for automated interfacing between LIM systems and laboratory instrumentation.

The Pistoia Method Model

As a collaboration between Allotrope Foundation and Pistoia Alliance, the Pistoia Method Model transforms “text-based Analytical Method description into a digital instruction set” that any Common Data Service (CDS) can read.

Their framework includes:

By digitizing method descriptions, this model increases data quality, strengthens cyber security and resilience, and improves reproducibility. Additionally, this strategy requires significantly less time and resources to reestablish methods in a different lab.

From theory to application: implementing a method model

Agilent and ZONTAL knew that to implement the Pistoia Method Model successfully, they would need to create a solution that addressed the following business challenges:

During the webinar, their live demo revealed that an integration of OpenLab CDS and ZONTAL Space could overcome these challenges and provide models on demand by 1) parsing methods from public and private monographs and academic publications and 2) extending models from instrument methods to complete analytical methods.

Here’s how it works:

With this solution, users can easily search for and identify methods based on descriptions. They can also upload and download methods from the database, run queries on those methods, and generate human-readable reports that provide new insights.

Overall, this successful integration increases data integrity, improves process efficiency, and ultimately enables digital analytical method sharing across laboratories.

We invite you to watch all Allotrope Connect videos.