Pipetting – love it or loathe it – it’s a necessary part of laboratory work. But in high-throughput experiments and busy hospital labs, keeping track of which sample goes where can be a challenge. A team from the Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, USA, have developed a creative system for fast and precise pipetting, in the form of a web-based app for tablet computers.

iPipet is an online benchtop tool – users upload a standard CSV file detailing the source and destination microplate wells for their samples, then access this experimental design from a tablet computer. Placing the plates onto the tablet screen illuminates the correct wells and columns, making it easier to track progress.