Interpret literature and plan a protocol
Information tasks have benchmark coverage; physical success requires a different test.
SCIENCE UNDER AUTOMATION
AI in Experimental molecular biology: capabilities and evidence
An agent can reason about a protocol while an experiment still depends on instruments, specimens and troubleshooting. Automation becomes more plausible where those physical steps are standardized and connected.
What has AI demonstrated?
40% lower protein-production cost reported
- Test
- GPT-5 / Ginkgo; six rounds, one sfGFP protein and one CFPS system.
- Comparison
- Best prior baseline cited by authors; no independent matched replication.
- System and version
- GPT-5 / Ginkgo cell-free protein synthesis · 2026-02-05
- Evidence checked
- 2026-10-20
One protein (sfGFP), one CFPS system. Thousands of compositions are not thousands of independent protein workflows.
What does the field require?
Optimize a configured protein synthesis assay
- Propose useful reaction recipes
Iterative CFPS optimization achieved measured cost improvements.
GPT-5 / Ginkgo cell-free protein synthesis - Execute reactions in a configured robot lab
Cloud-lab execution relies on a prepared platform and lab support.
GPT-5 / Ginkgo cell-free protein synthesis - Measure and select improvements
Repeated measured feedback supports this specific assay.
GPT-5 / Ginkgo cell-free protein synthesis
Establish a new molecular mechanism
- Choose a discriminating experiment
Laboratory reasoning tasks support planning, not physical execution.
LABBench2 v2 - Prepare samples and troubleshoot experiments
General physical autonomy is not evaluated by LABBench2.
LABBench2 v2 - Validate a causal mechanism
The cited evaluations do not establish autonomous mechanism validation.
LABBench2 v2
Research tasks
Execute and troubleshoot an experiment
Requires instrument access and evidence from the actual experimental setting.
Establish a causal mechanism
A convincing account depends on discriminating tests and independent validation.
Can AI replace the whole workflow?
The results above measure specific tasks. The field assessment also requires completion of the connected workflow, including the requirements listed here. A field-wide replacement percentage has not been established.
Read the assessment method