A new breed of scientist, with brains of silicon

At biotech startup Zymergen, robotic fingers are poised to pick microbe colonies in an AI-controlled quest for strains that crank out more chemicals. EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA--If this is the biology laboratory of the future, it doesn't look so different from today's. Scientists in white lab coats walk by with boxes of frozen tubes. The chemicals on the shelves--bottles of pure alcohol, bins of sugar, protein, and salts--are standard issue for growing microbes and manipulating their genes. You don't even notice the robots until you hear them: They sound like crickets singing to each other amid the low roar of fans.