PNNL breaks ground on AI biology lab that will offer free research access

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory broke ground October 20, 2026, in Richland, Washington, on a bioscience facility designed to connect AI decisions with physical experiments. Expected to open in 2029, the laboratory will let researchers compete for free access to automated tools that grow microbes, measure their behavior and help guide subsequent experiments.

The project’s total cost is set at $122 million in the administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request, according to the Tri-City Herald. The Department of Energy has awarded the construction contract to Richland-based Bouten Construction. Ginkgo Bioworks has a separate $47 million contract to equip the facility.

Called the Microbial Molecular Phenotyping Capability, or M2PC, the facility will add 30,800 square feet to PNNL’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, known as EMSL. PNNL expects construction to take about two years, with the research opening planned for 2029. The groundbreaking marks a construction milestone, not the start of scientific operations.

From moving samples to choosing experiments

M2PC will house more than 100 connected, automated instruments designed and supplied by Ginkgo. Customized software will coordinate them as one system, handling tasks that include growing microbes, preparing samples and measuring responses under carefully controlled conditions. Analyses will connect observable traits with the molecular processes inside cells that control them.

Those traits, collectively called a phenotype, include how quickly a microbe grows, which nutrients it favors and how it responds to temperature or acidity. Researchers also want to measure how long microbes produce a useful compound. Changing the conditions lets scientists examine how an organism’s behavior changes with its surroundings.

Robotic arms will fill and load sample containers and move them between laboratory locations, working around the clock. But the planned autonomy extends beyond repetitive handling. AI will analyze findings immediately and use the results to select the next research step, allowing one experiment to lead into another without constant human intervention.

Scientists will still be able to guide experimental designs and run the system. The intended division of work keeps researchers involved in setting scientific questions while automation carries out more tests and generates larger datasets from which they can draw conclusions.

A prototype result, not a full-facility benchmark

PNNL has already operated a prototype on its campus. In its first demonstration, it completed work in 72 hours that would otherwise have taken researchers six months, associate laboratory director Douglas Mans told the Tri-City Herald. His comparison covered planning, setup, experiments and data analysis—not just the time an instrument spent running.

That is an attributed result from the prototype demonstration, not a measured performance guarantee for the future M2PC facility. The larger laboratory is still being built, and its research program is being planned ahead of opening.

Shared equipment, competitive access

The facility will follow EMSL’s scientific user model rather than reserve its tools for PNNL researchers. Scientists from universities, industry and other national laboratories across the country will be invited to submit proposals. Access will be available at no cost through a competitive selection process; free access does not mean every applicant receives laboratory time.

DOE’s Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research program funds M2PC. PNNL describes it as a flagship component of the department’s Genesis Mission, which aims to accelerate science through AI and autonomous laboratories. The facility will also support PNNL’s effort to build and test computer models that predict and program living systems’ behavior.

The hoped-for applications include new materials, bioproducts, contamination cleanup and energy technologies. At the groundbreaking, PNNL director Deb Gracio also pointed to potential uses in fuel production and critical-mineral recovery. These are research goals, not products or discoveries delivered by the construction project.

Running the facility will require biologists comfortable with autonomous systems, automation engineers and technicians who can maintain sophisticated robotics, Mans said. No staffing estimate has been provided. Before the doors open, EMSL plans to work with the scientific community on some of the first research M2PC will undertake.