Welcome to the third volume of our product release notes in 2021! We have been working hard to bring you some much requested features. Read along to learn about our new product features and enhancements released February 2021 - March 2021.
Molecular Biology
Benchling’s Molecular Biology is a cutting-edge in-silico design tool that supports the latest scientific workflows.
Copy & paste MolFile’s in Notebook entries
Users can copy a selected compound from a drawing tool such as Marvin or ChemDraw and paste the MolFile text into Benchling. Benchling will detect the content’s source and initiate an upload as an attachment from clipboard. Please contact support@benchling.com to have this feature enabled
Exporting a DNA sequence as .gb now includes parts and translations as GenBank features (annotations)
Parts and translations that exist on a DNA sequence will now be seen as features (annotations) on GenBank when exported from Benchling in a .gb format.
Control annotation visibility on amino acid sequences
Users can now choose to hide or show annotations on amino acid sequences by navigating to the gear icon and selecting Annotations.
Schemas
Schemas provide a structured and standardized method of metadata capture throughout Benchling.
Registry schemas can now link to Inventory items
Items in the Inventory can now be linked to Registry schemas through container, plate, box and location links. This is configured by admins in the schema page. Results, Registry, and Inventory now all support the same types of links (entity, entry, blob, etc.).
Inventory items can now use entity, entry, or blob links
Inventory items can now contain entity, entry, and blob links in their metadata fields. This is configured by admins in the schema page.
Insights
Benchling Insights enables users to query, visualize, and share high-quality, structured data that resides in Benchling.
SQL template selection and multiple row select
Users can now click on rows to select/unselect them in a SQL template. Additionally, multiple rows can be selected by holding down shift + clicking.
New chart configuration sidebar
Chart configuration options will be moving from the top of charts, to a sidebar.
Lab Automation
Benchling for Lab Automation enables seamless integration of Benchling to liquid handlers, plate readers, imaging instruments, and more.
Results created by Lab Automation runs can be archived and multiple files can be uploaded to an output file config
Users can now archive and unarchive result rows created using Lab Automation runs. Once the previous output configuration file has been processed, a secondary file can then be uploaded, regardless of whether the Lab Automation configuration has associated results. Please contact support@benchling.com to have this feature enabled.
Blob links now supported in output file processing
Blob links are now supported in output file processing. Different blob links can be inserted into each row of the Lab Automation result table via Lab Automation processing. Previously, users had to manually copy and paste this information.
Use non-multiples of 4 in REVERSE_INTERLEAVE plate layout
The REVERSE_INTERLEAVE plate layout allows the user to specify a source plate that is 4x larger than the destination plates. Previously, REVERSE_INTERLEAVE required the number of destination plates to be a multiple of 4 source plates. Now, the size requirement is still in effect, but the number of destination plates can be a non-multiple of 4 destination plates.
Developer Platform
The Benchling developer platform is fundamental to centralizing and standardizing all your R&D data. Benchling’s APIs and Events are built to match the flexibility and speed of modern life science R&D.
New interactive API documentation page
The new API documentation page allows developers to use the API directly from the documentation, without needing to copy/paste examples to a local machine or another tool. Users can access the public version of the documentation at benchling.com/api/reference, and can live query the API with credentials at {your-tenant}.benchling.com/api/reference.
User setting to enable “Copy API ID” button
Users now have a button to toggle on and off the ability to copy API IDs.
Once enabled, the API ID of schemas, schema fields, dropdowns, entities, Inventory, folders, and projects can be copied easily by right clicking the row they’re listed on.
Events supported for AWS GovCloud
Benchling’s Events system allows external services to subscribe to events that are triggered in Benchling. AWS GovCloud can now subscribe to those events occurring in Benchling. Contact support@benchling.com to enable this feature.
Create Notebook entries with attachments
Developers can use Benchling’s APIs to create Notebook entries within Benchling. Users can add attachments to those entries, such as a PDF version of the original entry created outside of Benchling. Contact support@benchling.com to have this feature enabled.
Expose Schema Field API IDs in the Public API
API IDs for Schema fields are now exposed in the API, allowing the API to detect when there is a schema field name change.
Python SDK supports Registry and Storage endpoints
Developers can use the Python SDK to interact with Benchling APIs, including Registry and Storage endpoints. Navigate to this site for more information: https://pypi.org/project/benchling-sdk/.
Notebook template URLs now contain the full API ID
The API ID of a template is now found in full at the end of the URL.
Bug Fixes
The following bugs were fixed in this release:
Notebook
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Ingredients table disappears if the number of rows exceeds the auto-collapse threshold
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UAS table selector now has a scroll bar so users no longer have to zoom out to see all options
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LEN spreadsheet function no longer returns 4 for null values instead of 0
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Transfer table source column referencing a blank cell from another table causes a crash
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Cannot delete rows in an unsubmitted mixture preparation table in a template
Lab Automation
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Fixed error to allow isMulti = true in ADD_COLUMN processing step
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Allow non-unicode values to be accepted in lab auto runs
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Transformation transfer unsets container volume when transfer volume is 0
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Edited misleading tooltip for oversized tables
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Handle empty input in processing steps
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Headers cells with only a number causes a crash
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Do not allow setting a list of values as a “value” for FILTER processing steps
Insights
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Fixed bug where create dashboard button was appearing in global create menu regardless of whether Insights was enabled
Application Platform
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Fixed bug where the storables side panel did not automatically select the Registry when only one Registry was available
Developer Platform
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Fixed instability on the amino acids listing endpoint
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Create-into-registry now returns errors correctly for every item
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