The Estonian Genome Foundation hired an unusual employee.  It is a robot, which is supposed to greatly accelerate the collection of gene data on the residents of the country. At the workplace, the robot will help to separate the collected blood into components.
 
“With the help of this machine, which extracts DNA, we can now process about a hundred genetic samples in an hour and a half. Previously, this process was done by hand and took about one week. And not 96 samples were processed, but only 24,” the head of the Biobank Laboratory of the Estonian Gene Fund, Steven Smith, told the “ETV +” channel.
 
The robot has already extracted more than four thousand genetic samples within two weeks. And genotyping - one of the most important elements of the study - was carried out on more than ten thousand samples.
 
The Estonian Gene Fund of the University of Tartu is a database that describes genealogies, health status, and gene studies of voluntary DNA donors. These data allow conducting scientific research that gives scientists an opportunity to understand how genetic information and its changes affect the development of the individual, his aging, well-being and disease, NEWSru.www.newsru.com reports.