LabKey Biologics is designed to help teams efficiently manage bioprocessing workflows for large molecule research and development.
This topic details changes and enhancements in each release as a guide to help users track changes. Application-specific changes are listed by monthly version, along with a link to the general release notes for each major LabKey Server release.
Release 22.3, March 2022
- Notebook Entry Locking and Protection: Users are notified if someone else is already editing a notebook entry and prevented from accidentally overwriting their work. (docs)
- Copy and paste from Google Sheets or Excel to add a table to a notebook. (docs)
- Redesigned main dashboard featuring storage information. (docs)
- Updated freezer overview panel and dashboards present storage summary details. (docs)
- Available freezer capacity is shown when navigating freezer hierarchies to store, move, and manage samples. (docs | docs)
- Storage labels and descriptions give users more ways to identify their samples and storage units. (docs)
- Mixture import improvement: choose between replacing or appending ingredients added in bulk. (docs)
Release 22.2, February 2022
- Find notebooks easily based on a variety of filtering criteria. See your own ELN task status(es) at a glance. (docs)
- Users will see progress feedback for background imports being processed asynchronously. (docs)
- New Storage Editor and Storage Designer roles, allowing admins to assign different users the ability to manage freezer storage and manage sample and assay definitions. (docs)
- Note that users with the "Administrator" and "Editor" role no longer have the ability to edit storage information unless they are granted these new storage roles.
- Sample Type Insights panel summarizes storage, status, etc. for all samples of a type. (docs)
- Sample Status options are shown in a hover legend for easy reference. (docs)
- When a sample is marked as "Consumed", the user will be prompted to also change it's storage status to "Discarded" (and vice versa). (docs | docs)
- User-defined barcodes in integer fields can also be included in sample definitions and search-by-barcode results. (docs)
- Search menu includes quick links to search by barcode or sample ID. (docs)
Release 22.1, January 2022
- ELN improvements:
- Tables pasted into an ELN will be reformatted to fit the page width. Users can adjust the display before exporting or finalizing the notebook. (docs)
- Printing to PDF includes formatting settings including portrait/landscape and fit-to-page. (docs)
- Comments on Notebooks will send email notifications to collaborators with more detail. (docs)
- A new Text Choice data type lets admins define a set of expected text values for a field. (docs)
- Naming patterns will be validated during sample type definition. (docs)
- User-defined barcodes can be included in Sample Type definitions as text fields and are scanned when searching samples by barcode. (docs | docs)
- Editable grids include visual indication when a field offers dropdown choices. (docs)
- Add freezer storage units in bulk (docs)
- If any entities are named using only digits as names, these could create ambiguities if overlapped with the "rowIDs" of other entities, producing unintended results or lineages. With this release, such ambiguities will be resolved by assuming a name has been provided. (docs)
Release 21.12, December 2021
- Freezer Management for Biologics: Create a virtual match of your physical storage system, and then track sample locations, availability, freezer capacities, and more. (docs)
- Samples can be gathered on user-curated picklists to assist in many bulk actions. (docs)
- Workflow job sample lists, and other grid views containing samples of different types, offer tabs for viewing all the samples of each individual type as well as a consolidated tab showing all samples. (docs)
- When a workflow job includes samples, tasks that import assay data will auto-populate the assigned samples. (docs)
- Additional formatting options available for electronic lab notebooks, including special characters. (docs)
Release 21.11, November 2021
- Manage process parameters in lab workflows. Available in development mode. (docs)
- Archive an assay design so that new data is disallowed, but historic data can be viewed. (docs)
- Manage sample statuses like available, consumed, and locked. (docs)
- Incorporate lineage lookups into sample naming patterns. (docs)
- Apply a container specific prefix to all bioregistry entity and sample naming patterns. (docs)
- Prevent users from creating their own IDs/Names in order to maintain consistency using defined naming patterns. (docs)
- Release Notes 21.11 (November 2021)
Release 21.10, October 2021
- Customize the definitions of data classes (both bioregistry and media types) within the application. (docs)
- Sample detail pages include information about aliquots and jobs. (docs)
- Customize the naming pattern used when creating aliquots. (docs)
- Comments on workflow job tasks can be formatted in markdown and multithreaded. (docs)
- Redesigned job tasks page (docs)
Release 21.9, September 2021
- Edit lineage of selected samples in bulk (docs)
- Customize the names of entities in the bioregistry (docs)
- Redesigned job overview page (docs)
- Lineage graphs changed to show up to 5 generations instead of 3 (docs)
Release 21.8, August 2021
- Aliquot views available at the parent sample level. See aggregate volume and count of aliquots and sub-aliquots. (docs)
- Find samples using barcodes or sample IDs (docs)
- Import aliases for sample parents are shown in the Sample Type and included in downloaded templates. (docs)
- Improved options for managing workflow and templates (docs)
Release 21.7, July 2021
- Electronic Lab Notebooks are available as an integrated part of the Biologics application. (docs)
- Data-connected ELN connects your analysis directly to the supporting work
- Collaboratively author, review, and discuss notebook entries and data
- Add context and clarity to your work, accelerating the review and publication process.
- Removal of the previous "Experiment" mechanism. Use workflow jobs instead.
- A new Job Builder interface makes creating workflow jobs easier. (docs)
- Release Notes 21.7 (July 2021)
Release 21.6, June 2021
- Create and manage Aliquots of samples (docs)
- Parent details are included on the Overview tab for samples (docs)
Release 21.5, May 2021
- Nucleotide and Protein Sequence values can be hidden from users who have access to read other data in the system. (docs)
- Sample Types and Data Classes can include:
- Marking of fields at different levels of PHI. (docs)
- Fields to reference files and attachments. Learn more in the Sample Manager documentation here. (docs)
Release 21.4, April 2021
- Generate barcodes for Samples with "UniqueID" field type (docs)
- Options to create samples from more places in the application (docs)
- Create pooled samples and/or derive new samples from one or more parents (docs)
- Integrated workflow with job templates and personalized queues of tasks (docs)
- Specialty Assays can now be defined and integrated, in addition to Standard Assays (docs)
- Creation of Raw Materials in the application uses a consistent interface with other sample type creation (docs)
- When inferring fields to define data structures, the "reserved" fields will not be shown, but are always created (docs)
- When importing data, any unrecognized fields will be ignored; in some cases a banner will be shown (docs)
Release 21.3, March 2021
- User experience improvements include:
- A new home page, which highlights samples and recently added assay data. (docs)
- A new navigation menu, conveniently available throughout the application. (docs)
- Sample Types and Assay Designs can now be created and managed with a Biologics-based user interface. (docs | docs)
- In-app Notifications are provided when background imports are completed. (docs)
- Release Notes 21.3 (March 2021)
Release 20.11, November 2020
- Sample Management - Improved user experience for defining and importing samples, and generating sample IDs, including importing samples by drag-and-drop and directly entering sample information in the user interface. (docs)
- Assay Data Management - Improved user experience for defining, importing and managing assay data directly in the Biologics application. (docs)
- Sequence Validation - Improved validation of whitespaces and stop codons in nucleotide and protein sequences. (docs)
- Release Notes 20.11 (November 2020)
Release 20.7, July 2020
- Sample Import - Expanded sample import options within the Biologics application. (docs)
- Assay Data Import and Re-import - Improved interface for importing and re-importing assay data. (docs)
- Release Notes 20.7
Release 20.3, March 2020
- Sample Comparison Reports - Create assay summary reports for selected samples. (docs)
- Improved Data Grid Paging - Improvements allow you to select the number of rows to show on a given page and to jump to the first or last page directly. (docs)
- Release Notes 20.3
Release 19.3, November 2019
- Lineage Improvements - The Lineage tab provides graphical and grid views on lineage relationships, as well as sample details. (docs)
- Reports tab - The Reports tab displays custom grids and charts added by administrators. (docs)
- Release Notes 19.3
Release 19.2, July 2019
- Expanded Characters in Sequences. DNA/RNA sequences can use expanded characters beyond A, C, G, T, and U. (docs)
- Reporting Enhancements User-created reports, charts, and custom grids are collected and displayed on the Reports tab. (docs)
- Assay QC States - Configure and use custom states for quality control workflows in assays. Available in both LabKey Server and Biologics. (admin docs) and (Biologics user docs)
- Release Notes: 19.2
Release 19.1, March 2019
- Custom Charts and Grids - Display charts and custom grids within Biologics. (docs)
- File Attachments - Attach files to experiments. (docs)
- Bulk Upload Ingredients and Raw Materials - Import ingredients and materials in bulk using Excel, TSV, and other tabular file formats. (docs)
- Support for 'Unknown' Ingredients - Include "unknowns" in bulk registration of mixtures and batches. (docs)
- Improved Batch Creation - Add an ingredient off recipe during the creation of a batch. (docs)
- Assay Data for Samples - When a sample has multiple associated assays, the results are displayed on different tabs on the sample's details page. (docs)
- Release Notes 19.1
Release 18.3, November 2018
- Biologics Trial Servers Available - Create a web-based server instance to explore LabKey Biologics. (docs)
- Experiment Framework - Manage experiments, associated samples and assay data. Add and remove samples from an existing experiment. View the assay data linked to samples in an experiment. (docs)
- Lineage Grid - View sample lineage in a grid format. (docs)
- Import Constructs from GenBank Files - Import Constructs using the GenBank file format (.gb, .genbank). (docs)
- Custom Views - Administrators can define and expose multiple views on Biologics grid data, allowing end users to select from the list of views. (docs)
- Tutorials - Use these tutorials as a guided tour of LabKey Biologics:
- Release Notes 18.3
Release 18.2, July 2018
- Experiments - Build and define experiments with samples. (docs)
- Details for Related Entities - The user interface for related entities has been improved with expandable details panels. (docs)
- Editable Grid Improvements - Insert sample details or upload assay data in a grid. (docs)
- Bulk Import for Media - Quickly specify ingredients for recipes or batches. (docs)
- Release Notes 18.2
Release 18.1, March 2018
- Improved Navigation - Redesigned navigation bars have replaced the "breadcrumb" links. Multiple tabs have been added to select details pages in the registry. (docs)
- Bulk Import Entities - Bulk import nucleotide sequences, protein sequences, molecules, mixtures, and mixture batches using an Excel file, or other tabular file format. (docs)
- Editable Grid for Assay Data - Enter assay data directly into the data grid without the need for a file-based import. (docs)
- GenBank File Format - Import and export data using the GenBank file format. (docs)
- Multiple Sample Assay Data Upload (docs)
- Improved Media Registration - Include an expiration date for batches of media. Mark raw materials and media batches as "consumed" to track the current supply. (docs)
- Release Notes 18.1
Release 17.3, November 2017
Release 17.2, July 2017
- Vendor Supplied Mixtures - Add vendor supplied materials and mixtures to the registry, even when exact ingredients and/or amounts are unknown.
- Editable Registry Fields - Some fields in the registry can be directly edited by the user, such as description and flag fields.
- Media Batches - Users can create media batches using recipes and ingredients already entered into the repository.
- Improved Sample Creation - A new sample generation wizard makes it easier to enter new samples in the repository, and to link them with existing DataClasses and parent samples.
- Release Notes 17.2
March 2017
- LabKey Biologics is Launched!