Knowledge: The Search is Over

" ... Teytelman is always eager to tell the story behind his most recent entrepreneurial inspiration. As a molecular biology postdoc at MIT, he spent a year and a half conducting research before discovering that a single step of the fish microscopy method he was using, which was published in Nature Methods, was faulty. The method called for 1 mL solution in an enzyme, but Teytelman discovered that 5 mL was actually needed. Instead of a 15-min incubation as the method suggested, the enzyme actually needed one hour. Given the time, money and data Teytelman had invested into his own research before noticing the error, he was eager to share his new-found knowledge regarding the method correction. So, he called the inventor of the technique, only to find out the method was a correction of a previously published one so there was nothing he could do.  Inspired by his own experience and further fueled by a friend with a high-level technology background, Teytelman developed 'protocols.io,' an up-to-date, open-access, collaborative repository of science methods and protocols.  Here’s how it works: any researcher can log on to the free platform via web browser or an app available on both iOS and Android devices.  Researchers can then choose to create their own protocols, or view any of the open-access protocols in the repository, which include common methods from New England BioLabs, addgene and more.  For any protocol on the site, researchers can hit the 'play' button and work through the protocol while at the bench. It gives a step-by-step, interactive checklist, and also allows users to record any changes directly on the page as they are running the experiment. A lab timer function is also available directly on the page or in the app. All method changes are instantly saved, thereby increasing speed and reproducibility ..."