Definitions
- Mixtures are recipes that combine Ingredients using specific preparation steps. Mixtures are virtual entities in LabKey Biologics. Each Mixture is registered only once, but are realized/instantiated multiple times by Batches.
- Batches are realizations of a Mixture recipe. They are physically real formulations produced by following the recipe encoded by some Mixture. Multiple Batches of the same Mixture can be added to the registry, each with its own volume, weight, vessel, location, etc.
An analogous relationship exists between
Ingredients and Raw Materials: Ingredients are the virtual definition of a substance (registered only one once); Raw Materials are the multiple physical instantiations of a given Ingredient.
Registering Mixtures
The virtual recipes are listed in the
Media > Mixtures grid. Find a given Mixture by filtering, sorting, or searching by typing into the "Select" box.
Mixtures are comprised of
Ingredients and specific preparation details in a "recipe" that can be registered. There are several ways to reach the mixture creation wizard:
You can also register mixtures of
unknown ingredients, amounts, and concentrations; for example, when you receive materials from an outside vendor which does not disclose the ingredients, or only partially discloses them. To register mixtures with limited information see:
Mixtures can also be added using a table of ingredients, that you copy-and-paste from an Excel or TSV file. For details see:
Start a New Mixture "From Scratch"
From the home page or top menu, select
Media, then
Mixtures and click
Insert New above the grid of available mixtures.
Start from an Existing Mixture
Any of the registered mixtures can be clicked for a detailed view. The details view includes general information as well as the mixture’s included ingredients and preparation steps. The details page also includes a
Create > Mixture menu in the which opens the create mixture wizard (and includes the current mixture within the wizard).
Start with an Existing Ingredient
Clicking
Ingredients brings you to a grid of available (previously created) ingredients. Click an individual ingredient for a detailed view. Select
Create > Mixture to open the wizard to create a new mixture which includes the current ingredient within the wizard.
Register a Mixture: Wizard Steps
The new mixture wizard adds a new mixture to the registry, and performs a check to ensure that the mixture name is unique in the registry. Duplicate mixture names are not allowed in the registry.
Wizard Step 1: Details
The Details step asks for basic information about the mixture, including a type such as powder or solution. Once all required fields have been filled in, the
Next button will become clickable.
Upon clicking Next, the mixture name is checked against the registry to see if it is already in use. A warning displayed if a duplicate name is found.
Wizard Step 2: Ingredients
The Ingredients step allows you to add single ingredients or existing mixtures to a new mixture recipe, as well as the required amounts and the amount unit. If you started the wizard from an ingredient or mixture it will be prepopulated here.
Specify what
Recipe Measure Type the mixture is using: Mass or Volume. This selection dictates what unit types are available for the ingredients below.
- If Mass is selected, unit types will be: g/kg, g/g, g/mg, g/μg, mol/kg, mol/g, mol/mg, mol/μg
- If Volume is selected, unit types will be: g/kL, g/L, g/mL, g/μL
Note that molar volumes are not allowed, as the ingredient wizard assumes molecular weight to be in g/mol. Since the registry does not record density, a conversion from g to mL is not possible.
Click
Add Ingredient for each unique component of the mixture.
The
Ingredient/Mixture text boxes are 'type ahead' searches, that is, as you type, the registry will offer a filtered dropdown of options that contain your typed string.
When at least one ingredient/mixture and the associated amount/amountUnit fields have been filled in, the
Next button becomes enabled. If a selected Ingredient or Mixture is no longer desired, the red minus button on the right can be clicked to remove it.
Wizard Step 3: Preparation
The preparation step lets you add one or more preparation instructions. Click
Add Step to add one or more text boxes. When all instructions have been entered, click the
Next button.
Wizard Step 4: Confirmation
The confirmation step summarizes all of the information entered so far. Once submitted, the mixtures grid is shown.
Register a Mixture using 'Bulk' Ingredients Table
This method of registering a mixture lets you enter the ingredients in a tabular format by copying-and-pasting from an Excel or TSV file.
- Go to the Mixtures grid and click Insert New.
- On the Details tab, enter the Mixture Name and Mixture Type (and description and aliases if needed) then click Next.
- On the Ingredients tab, click Bulk Upload.
- A popup window appears showing a template table which you can copy-and-paste into an empty Excel file.
- Fill out the table, adding separate lines for each ingredient in the mixture. Only the "Ingredient/Mixture" column is required. If a cell is left blank, you can complete the details of the mixture using the user interface. Columns are explained below:
- Type: (Optional) Specify either "Ingredient" or "Mixture".
- Ingredient/Mixture: (Required) The name of the ingredient or mixture which must be a pre-existing item already in the registry.
- Amount: (Optional) A number that indicates the weight or volume of the ingredient.
- Unit Type: (Optional) Possible values are: g/g, g/kg, mL/kg, mol/g, mol/kg
- Copy-and-paste the table back into the popup window and click Add Ingredients.
- Fill in any remaining fields, if necessary, and click Next.
- Complete the rest of the mixture wizard.
Registering Mixtures with Unknown Ingredients, Amounts, or Concentrations
In cases where you do not know the exact ingredients, amounts, or concentrations of a material, you can still add it to the registry. These scenarios are common when receiving a material from an outside vendor who does not disclose the exact formulation of the product.
In such cases, the mixture registration process is largely the same, except for the Ingredients step, where you can toggle all ingredients and amounts as unknown, or toggle individual amounts as unknown.
Selecting the
Unknown on the toggle switch disables entry of any further details about the recipe:
Selecting an
Unknown Amount checkbox disables that row’s amount and unit type inputs:
Note that you can register materials and mixtures without specifying ingredients or amounts, even when you do not explicitly check one of the 'unknown' boxes. But warning messages are provided to confirm that your registration is intentional.
Once registered, mixtures with unknown ingredients and amounts behave just as any other mixture, with a slight change to their detail view to illustrate that an ingredient or concentration may be unknown.
Bulk Registration of Mixtures That Include Unknowns
In bulk registration of Mixtures, some fields support the text "unknown" on import. For details, see
Bulk Registration of Entities.
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