How LIMS Have Helped Scientists Over The Years

By Andrew Thompson


There is not a laboratory in existence, at least in the modern world, that doesn't make use of a laboratory information system. No matter what they are called, they are essential tools for laboratories and the scientists who work in them to get all of their work done. Some people call them LIS for laboratory information system, or LMS for laboratory management system, but these are simply different titles for the same thing and are interchangeable with LIMS.

The reason why everyone in the scientific community has to know about these types of things is that it would be impossible to find a single working lab today that doesn't have one. The reason for this is that scientific research laboratories nowadays have to go through so much information that there is no possibility that all of the data would be able to be tracked properly without one. It's not just about making the life of the scientists easier; it's about reaching new heights of scientific understanding, to help mankind in all kinds of different ways.

When there are numerous different people working in a lab, it is easy to lose track of who worked when, who did what, and any other detail that can come into play in a specific type of scientific experiment. Losing just a tiny bit of data or having something mixed up can often make or break an experiment, and these little accidents can be extremely costly. That's why just keeping track of workflow in a reliable and automated way is something that research facilities need to have.

When information is put in manually, there is so much more room for error than when it is put in automatically. Although some people are very meticulous and extremely careful, there is just so much that can go wrong when records are kept this way. All it takes is for a number or decimal point to be put in the wrong place, or for a file to be misplaced, for disaster to occur, and that's why an automated method is best.

Specialty labs usually have specialty systems to suit their particular needs. This helps to get things done in an efficient way. These types of labs often have a specific way that data needs to be entered.

Information systems have changed a lot over the years. Mainly, they have become much more advanced. This is both due to the help of science and due to the advancing needs of scientists.

These systems were first used to track samples. Scientists relied on them heavily in the early days of experimentation. Now the uses of information systems have grown immensely.

In the same way that science itself differs in many ways between the various branches it has, laboratories and scientists themselves also come in many different varieties. This is bound to create many opportunities for differences in opinions, and the opinion for what makes an LIS what it is is one of those divergences. It is good to get to know what constitutes an information system in the lab you're working in before accidentally misunderstanding what is being said.




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