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Student Class
2029
Student Affiliation
Thayer School First Year Research in Engineering
Author ORCID Identifier
0009-0001-0275-1348
First Advisor
Daniel Olson
First Advisor Department
Department of Engineering Sciences—Thayer School of Engineering
Second Advisor
Marybeth Maloney
Second Advisor Department
Department of Engineering Sciences—Thayer School of Engineering
Abstract
Ethanol stress assays are commonly used to evaluate microbial tolerance, metabolic adaptation, and fermentation performance. However, manual liquid handling introduces variability across replicate wells and small-volume pipetting steps, limiting reproducibility and throughput. This study developed an automated OT-2 robotic workflow to generate replicated ethanol concentration gradients for high-throughput inhibition assays in engineered thermophilic biofuel strains. Kinetic plate-reader measurements were used to quantify ethanol-dependent growth responses under anaerobic fermentation conditions. The reasearch question is: How do engineered thermophilic biofuel strains differ in ethanol-dependent growth inhibition under anaerobic fermentation conditions, and can automated robotic assays improve the reproducibility of these measurements? Can high-throughput robotic ethanol inhibition assays reliably generate reproducible ethanol gradients and reveal strain-specific tolerance responses in engineered thermophilic biofuel organisms?
Publication Date
Spring 5-26-2026
Keywords
Microbial Metabolism, Alcohol Dehydrogenase E, Ethanol Stress, Enzyme Kinetics NADH Assays, High-Throughput Screening, Laboratory Automation, Robotic Liquid Handling, Bioprocess Engineering, Biofuel Production
Disciplines
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics | Biochemistry | Biological Engineering | Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering | Biotechnology | Molecular Biology | Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Engineering | Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing | Oil, Gas, and Energy | Systems and Integrative Engineering
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
He, Kevin; Olson, Daniel; Maloney, Marybeth; and Lanahan, Anthony, "High-Throughput Robotic Ethanol Inhibition Assays for Engineered Thermophilic Biofuel Strains" (2026). Wetterhahn Science Symposium Posters. 16.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/wetterhahnsymposiumposters/16
Included in
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Commons, Biochemistry Commons, Biological Engineering Commons, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons, Biotechnology Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Engineering Commons, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Systems and Integrative Engineering Commons
