Custom factors are variables that you would like to investigate in your DOE design, but do not map directly to a parameter in a Synthace element. There are three element parameter categories - mixture compositions, diluent to use, and mixture volume - and not all variables will fall into one of these.
You might want to investigate variables such as temperature, pH, or the ratio of one component to another. These variables don’t directly map to parameters in elements that Synthace will physically control. However, you can still define them as a part of your DOE, calculate a design, and group the runs from your design to separate simulations based on these factors and their levels. For example, this could be a way to make sure that all the runs with a specific temperature are grouped to the same plate.
Custom factors are particularly useful when used along with derived factors. For example you might have a custom factor called DNA:Transfection Ratio, which defines the proportion of transfection reagent added to your DNA, and then calculate, using a derived factor, the concentration or volume of transfection reagent from the DNA concentration and ratio levels for any given run in your design. To learn more about derived factors click here.
Custom factors can be one of any of the factor types supported in Synthace: numerical, categorical, derived, mutually exclusive, or a quasi- replicate.
To learn how to define custom numerical factors click here.
To learn how to define custom categorical factors click here.
To learn about other factor types, click here.