Automation of yeast pedigree analysis

Yeast pedigree analysis-isolation and characterization of the products of mitotic cell divisions throughout the lifespan of an individual cell-is a manually intensive process that requires a biologist to manipulate single yeast cells every 90 minutes for as long as 150 hours. Progress toward the development of a system for automating yeast pedigree analysis is presented. Yeast cells are trapped in a microfluidic device, then observed using a fiber-optic imaging bundle. Image processing software classifies each cell as either budding or not budding a newly formed daughter cell. The system recognizes when a cell has a bud, and microfluidic valves direct newly formed daughter cells to an agar plate. Finally, biologists analyze the colonies formed by each yeast daughter cell on the agar plate.