Welcome to the first volume of our 2023 product release notes! We’ve been working hard to bring you performance improvements that add value to your work. Read on to learn about the product enhancements and bug fixes released in January 2023.
Molecular Biology
The molecule entity in Registry helps users model and interact with chemical compounds throughout the platform, enabling users to draw, visualize, store, and search chemical structures.
Skip and download errored molecules during .sdf import
When bulk importing structured data files (.sdf) into Benchling, users can now skip rows with errors, ensuring successful molecules still import. Users can also download an isolated spreadsheet containing the failing molecules to quickly diagnose and troubleshoot the error(s).
Registry and Inventory
The Registry and Inventory combine to form an extremely powerful solution for life sciences R&D samples. The Registry can be used to model and log any biological entities while the Inventory provides an interactive digital window into the physical storage system of your lab.
Granular access policies for containers and wells, plates, and boxes
When customizing a tenant’s general access policies, admins can now configure different access policies for containers and wells, plates, and boxes. This applies only to new tenants created after December 1, 2022.
Improved archive entity language when archiving containers and additional informational banner
When archiving containers filled with entities, an informational banner now displays after users select Archive entities stored in containers.
New message clarifying that name templates don’t automatically update
When updating name templates, a pop-up window now displays with the names of previously-registered entities’ that won’t be updated.
Removed “Destination container barcode” from allowed column types in registry import entities flow
When bulk importing entities for registration, users can now use the container barcode column type to transfer their entities into existing containers instead of using the destination container barcode column.
Spreadsheet update enables the clearing of schema fields for plates, containers, and boxes
When updating containers, plates, and boxes via spreadsheet, users can now enter a null value under the column header corresponding to a schema field, enabling them to clear existing schema field values.
Change "Merge and Register" to "Continue"
When performing a registry import, the registration error for duplicate entities now warns users that any duplicate entities will merge with the existing entity.
Workflows
Workflows are a sequence of processes that are performed to answer a research question or synthesize new material. For example, synthesizing a new set of proteins from supernatants, or improving the transduction process.
Workflow creation forms
Users can input data into a workflow task via a table or a form format view.
Lab Automation
Benchling for Lab Automation enables seamless integration of Benchling to liquid handlers, plate readers, imaging instruments, and more.
New Alias field to input files via the Lookup step
Users can now configure input files to include an entity’s alias as the lookup attribute.
Application core
To create a seamless Benchling experience, our platform must be consistent, compliant and predictable. The Application Core provides the central capabilities platform to create a smoother user experience.
Share saved searches
Users can now save searches to access search results more quickly in the future, and share them with others in their organization.
Compliance Controls
With Compliance Controls, gathering required information for compliance is simple, intuitive, and performant. The team’s primary focus is on our auditing platform but we also own exporting and archiving.
New User ID column (API ID) when users have duplicate usernames
Audit logs now have a User ID column with a user’s API ID to distinguish between two users with the same username.
New Object API IDs in New Value and Old Value fields for objects
Audit logs now contain API identifiers for objects.
To enable this feature, contact a Benchling representative.
App Audit Logs
Users can now view app-specific events in the audit logs
Studies
Manage in vivo studies with modern software designed for data capture, collaboration, and insights.
[Beta] Data tables v1.0
Users can now collect Studies data in a spreadsheet format and capture time series.
[Beta] Audible noise in workflow
Successful capture of measurements in Studies now triggers an audible noise.
Additional units added to custom dosing
The following custom dosing units are now available:
- RCV FFU
- FFU
- Units
- mg
Percent (%) change in graphs
Users can now visualize percent change and percent negative change in Studies graphs.
Alternative IDs added to randomization reports
Users can now use columns for TAIL, EAR, TAG, and DONOR in the animals table of randomization reports.
Alerts on variables
Users can now set alerts for when a variable of a calculated measurement meets a set condition. For example, if a welfare protocol dictates that animals must be removed from a study when the tumor length exceeds 12 mm, then an alert will notify users that the tumor’s volume is now affected.
Bug Fixes
THe following issues were fixed this month:
Notebook
- Structured tables now recognize updates to attachment fields when user upload a new file with the same name as the original file
- When Entry Review Processes was enabled, the reviewer checkbox wasn’t marking that an entry review had been completed
- When Entry Review Processes was enabled on a tenant, any entries that were submitted for review before the feature was enabled could not be retracted, rejected, or approved
- Numbers entered with scientific notation that had more than 1 digit to the left of the decimal indicator no longer have their precision computed incorrectly.
- The entire drop-down menu wasn’t displaying when users were configuring Entry Review Processes on small screens
- Home page notifications didn’t align with email notifications indicating entries needing review when Entry Review Processes was enabled
Molecular Biology
- Users couldn’t set annotation strand direction when creating an annotation
Small Molecule
- Oligos without a terminal phosphate no longer have a purple dot (indicating a modification) when the oligo is bound as a primer
Registry and Inventory
- Customers submitting different entity types via a multi-select entity field in Registration tables no longer receive an invalid value for field error
- Using custom plate names no longer generates a space when naming wells, which previously broke API integrations
- When transferring a container’s contents to another non-empty container, the transfer now includes the container’s name
- The Inventory tab no longer displays in registered entities for tenants that haven’t purchased the Inventory application
- Links to entities failing validation now work properly
- Searching for entities with validation failures using global search filters now displays the same failed entities as selecting the Validation Failures tab on an entity schema
Access Management
- The Role drop-down menu is now disabled for self since users can’t change their own role in an organization.
Search
- Search filters for datetime were broken
Insights
- Error messages indicating that multiple collaborators are working on a dashboard no longer contain a typo
Lab Automation
- A run’s summary output tables now use natural sorting to display results. For example, sample 1, sample 2, sample 10 instead of sample 1, sample 10, sample 2
- Users can now specify the destination container barcodes of boxes and matrix plates using the UI config in addition to the JSON config
- Users can now add boxes from structured tables to a run’s field
- The blob ID for a transform step now associates the correct API endpoint for the transform step’s blob instead of the API endpoint for the output file’s blob
Developer Platform
- The naming strategy validation check is no longer needed after providing the entityRegistryId
- Archived results now display when listing results in the API
- Developers can now copy and paste links in the API as hyperlinks were previously broken
- Developers can now procure archived results reasons via the archiveReason filter in the Results Listing API
Compliance Controls
- Exporting containers with archived entities via .csv now produces an error as archived entities shouldn’t display in container exports
- Users can now extend the time limit specification when exporting folders, ensuring that exports don’t timeout for larger folders
Studies
- Importing null measurement fields no longer blocks users from opening the animal’s profile
- Users can now properly upload files