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Tetsuwan (founders Cristian Ponce and Alex) is building an automated lab platform…

2026-06-24 · 17:57 UTC ·@ianmiles ·1 min read

Brief

Tetsuwan, co-founded by Cristian Ponce and Alex (who met at Caltech), is commercializing an automated lab bench: users write experiments in a precise syntax which the platform executes remotely to generate transparent, reproducible outputs. After two years of pilot testing, Tetsuwan plans to launch services later this year targeting functional screens for protein design to scale biological experimentation and improve reproducibility.

Why it matters

Tetsuwan (founders Cristian Ponce and Alex) is building an automated lab platform where users specify experiments in an exact syntax and have them executed remotely, so users never need physical access to a bench.

Key details

  • The platform was built and tested with pilot labs over the past two years and will bring its first services online later this year, initially focusing on functional screens for protein design.
  • Motivation: manual, idiosyncratic bench work causes reproducibility issues, and Tetsuwan aims to produce standardized, transparent data to meet AI-driven demand for reproducible experiments.
Source evidence

Absolute game changer for biology. This is the start of a medical revolution and the first of many contributions AI can bring to science. I for one am excited about the future.

Video

Cristian Ponce (@cmponce)

Automating the lab bench is the best thing we can do for AI in biology.

Most experiments are still run by hand. Every biologist's handiwork is unique and every lab is a little different. So, biology faces widespread reproducibility issues.

But, AI will demand more reproducible data than we can produce, and generate more ideas than we can test.

Experiments must be communicated and executed in a standardized way to generate reproducible data.

So, Tetsuwan is building a lab where users specify experiments in an exact syntax. These experiments are executed by an automated platform to generate transparent, reproducible output. The user never needs physical access to a lab. This is a biology lab you can use like a computer.

Our platform, built and tested with pilot labs over the past two years, lets users configure automated workflows rapidly & precisely.

Later this year, we will bring our first services online, focusing on functional screens for protein design.

Alex and I met at Caltech, where she was one year my senior. We're building this company because we were little kids who wanted to be biologists that grew up into adults who resented the lab bench. We want biology to be about asking questions, not the painful and frustrating manual process of asking them.

For those looking to receive updates on our pilot services, looking for a meaningful job, or just to learn more about our work, see the links in the comments!

Video

— https://nitter.net/cmponce/status/2069839730146230534#m