Reshape Biotech

Reshape Biotech is an automated lab platform that accelerates routine microbiology tasks such as plate handling, imaging, and colony counting.

How to use Reshape Biotech

1. Sign up on the Reshape Biotech site and book an onboarding call.
2. Unpack the instrument, plug in power plus ethernet, and follow the on-screen wizard for firmware activation.
3. Load plates on the carousel, choose the desired protocol from the touchscreen, and press “Start”.
4. Monitor progress in real time through the browser dashboard or receive automatic Slack updates.
5. Export images and colony counts straight to your LIMS with the provided API key.

What I noticed during testing

Advantages

• Plate imaging finishes in minutes, freeing up bench space and cutting a full afternoon of manual work.
• The guided interface uses plain language, so new staff learned the flow after a single run.
• Cloud storage keeps every photograph in one place, making audit prep painless.
• Hardware modules are slim; the incubator door closed without any adjustments.
• REST endpoints are well documented, letting me push data directly into our existing reports with a short Python script.

Drawbacks

• First-time network configuration depends on wired internet, which slowed us down in a Wi-Fi-only room.
• Daily calibration takes roughly five minutes; skipping it leads to slight focus drift, so discipline is required.
• Round dishes smaller than standard 90 mm are not yet recognised by the software, limiting flexibility for certain assays.

Summary

I came away impressed by the time savings and smooth user journey offered by Reshape Biotech, though the strict plate format and extra setup steps may matter for some teams. For labs juggling high colony counts each day, the trade-off looks worthwhile.