Real-time and turn-based biology online experimentation

Being able to perform versatile biology experiments online would be very beneficial for research and education. Currently no such platforms exist in the life sciences. We have developed two such platforms, which are optimized for biological phenomena at the seconds and hours time scale, respectively: (1) A fully automated realtime biology lab that enables direct online interactions with phototactic microorganisms (euglena) that are long-term stably cultured in a microfluidic chip; (2) A turn-based biology lab that enables the spatio-temporal chemical stimulation of slime molds (physarum) in a petri-dish over multiple days. We compare the utility and affordance of both platforms, especially regarding use in online education.