• Benchling is a cloud-based software platform designed for life science research and development.

• It provides tools and features to help scientists manage and streamline their laboratory workflows, data, and collaboration efforts.

• Benchling offers a range of functionalities tailored to various aspects of scientific research.

Benchling aims to enhance productivity and efficiency in scientific research by digitizing and streamlining laboratory workflows, data management, and collaboration. It is used by academic researchers, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and other life science organizations to accelerate scientific discoveries and drive innovation.

Key features:

  • Experimental Design and Execution: Scientists can plan and track their experiments using intuitive interfaces. They can define protocols, set up experiments, and record observations in a structured manner.
  • Data Capture and Organization: Benchling allows researchers to capture and organize their experimental data in a centralized and easily searchable manner. This includes storing experimental results, images, and other relevant files.
  • Molecular Biology Tools: The platform provides molecular biology tools for tasks such as designing and cloning DNA sequences, managing plasmids, and designing primers. These tools help researchers streamline their molecular biology workflows.
  • Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN): Benchling includes an electronic laboratory notebook that enables scientists to document their research, take notes, and track their progress. It allows for collaboration and sharing of information within research teams.
  • Collaboration and Communication: Benchling facilitates collaboration among scientists by providing features for sharing data, protocols, and findings. It allows for real-time collaboration, discussion, and commenting on experiments.
  • Data Analysis: The platform supports data analysis through integration with other tools or by providing built-in analysis capabilities. It enables researchers to analyze their experimental data and generate insights.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Benchling includes features to assist with regulatory compliance, particularly in fields such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. It provides traceability, version control, and audit trails for data integrity and compliance requirements.

Overall, Benchling's impact on the future of life sciences lies in its ability to drive efficiency, collaboration, and innovation. By empowering scientists with intuitive tools and enabling seamless data management and analysis, Benchling has the potential to accelerate scientific breakthroughs, advance personalized medicine, and contribute to the overall growth of the life sciences industry.

Humble Beginning

Benchling is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2012 by Sajith Wickramasekara, Ashutosh Singhal, and Cory Li of MIT. The company focuses on life science collaboration, both private and public, through creating cloud-based software tools for digital DNA sequence editing, designing and running experiments, analyzing data, and sharing research.

Benchling released a cloud-based research and development notebook three years later with the goal of accelerating experimentation by researchers. Before Benchling's software reduced that time to 10 seconds, scientists reportedly used techniques that required roughly 24 hours to produce results. So easy to use and understand, they literally made the staircase an escalator.

With Benchling at their disposal, scientists can focus on what really matters: science and innovation, rather than wasting hours searching for information across these dispersed sources.

They require cutting-edge software to keep up with the pace of research and development in a field where so many cutting-edge discoveries are being made in fields like medicine, agriculture, food, and energy, among others.

More multi-dimensional data sets are being created at a rapid rate as the rate of scientific progress quickens, and life sciences research is producing orders of magnitude more data than it ever has.

As a student also you now no need to write all repetitive processes in your journal, this software is really helpful in documenting and you can explore more also.

 Benchling fosters scientific collaboration by offering tools for exchanging data, procedures, and results. It enables real-time collaboration, conversation, and experiment commenting.

Statistics

With investors including Alkeon Capital, Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ Capital, Lux Capital, Menlo Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Spark Capital, and Thrive Capital, they raised $200 million in their series E round in 2021. With a $6.1 billion value and $425 million in funding since its inception, Benchling has developed into a valuable resource for more than 200,000 scientists at more than 900 biotech firms. 

For all the high school kids who are yet to write every reaction in their journal, now can easily do it in software and understand the process better. Benchling's ability to promote efficiency, collaboration, and creativity will ultimately determine how the biological sciences develop in the future. 

Edited by Shruti Thapa