The look of Fluidigm's Juno has caught the eye of Co.Design. The SNP genotyping platform "looks sort of like a Jawbone speaker mated with a 1985 Macintosh," it says.
The system also, Co.Design says, simplifies the process, likening it to a Keurig coffeemaker. One button press, it says, opens a tray onto which a lab technician can place a sample for analysis.
"I think the world of science and innovation deserves the same kind of design, attention, branding, and experience as consumer products," industrial designer Yves Béhar, who worked on Juno, tells Co.Design, "with an easier, faster, more friendly, and even fun experience."
GenomeWeb Daily News reported in September that Fluidigm was launching an early access program for this system, and that the company envisaged it being used by biobanking and cell culture facilities for sample identification, quality control, and DNA fingerprinting as well as by ag-bio customers.