Put simply, the tracking date is your way of telling Benchling Studies when to start tracking measurements for your study groups.
The measurements performed on the tracking date become the "Day 0" data.
Why did we do this?
Having this feature allows for flexibility across the scientific community. Some may wish to assign to treatment groups and begin tracking these groups from the very first measurement. This can be facilitated by setting the tracking date to the date of the first measurement.
Others may wish to start tracking study groups further down the line. For example, animals may be assigned to treatment groups when tumors reach a particular volume. In this case, the tracking date can be assigned to that day and any prior measurements will not be graphed.
How do you assign a tracking date?
To assign a tracking date, select your animals in the animals screen and click bulk action. You can then select set tracking date.