Bioreactor

Detecting pathogens like a virus or create treatments like vaccines require reagents (chemicals). The only way to produce those in usable quantities is to use a bioreactor.

A Flow Cell. Finalized.

Electrophoresis Gel Box. Finalized and tested. This project is in the optimization and enhancement phase.

Electrophoresis gel boxes are an integral part of nucleic acid or protein separation. A gel box is a container that can accommodate a gel tray and has electrodes that can be connected to a power supply.

Power supply for Electrophoresis Gel Box. Finalized and tested. This project is in the optimization and enhancement phase.

For Electrophoresis separation a higher than regular DC voltage is required and sources are not easy to find. So we need to design and build one.

Upgrading an existing Centrifuge. Finalized and tested. This project is in the optimization and enhancement phase.

Older model centrifuges are sometimes available but lack modern features so we upgraded one!

An incubator. Finalized and tested. This project is in the optimization and enhancement phase.

Most protocols use bacteria for DNA amplification or editing. That requires an incubator. Fridges are good but too bulky so we started with a microwave. We will have to update the web site with the working equipment and final building information

An inoculating loop. Finalized and tested. This project is in the optimization and enhancement phase.

Bacteria are the work horses for molecular biology. We need to care for them. Most of them are grown in Petri dishes. Putting and taking out bacteria from the dishes require an inoculating loop.

Optical Density Meter
Project finalized yet not fully documented. Please contact for free 3D files, schematics and instructions.

Inoculating loop flamer. Finalized and tested

Liquid cultures and transformations and many many other operations require a shaker. Finalized.

Centrifuge.

Centrifugation is common operation. Is used for the separation of fluids, gas or liquid, based on density. Separation is achieved by spinning a vessel containing material at high speed; the centrifugal force pushes heavier materials to the outside of the vessel..

Centrifuges are big monsters so it's better to get and fix or enhance an old one but for a simple personal small one we might attempt to build this Hacked Hard-disc Centrifuge

PCR

PCR thermocycler is relatively common yet a fairly complicated device. PCR is a method of multiplying DNA molecules. An enzyme known as polymerase uses one strand of DNA as a template to create a complementary strand. The result is that the initial nucleic acid molecule is multiplied.

We consider building the Gaudi lab PCR machine and enhancing with some automated downstream detection>Gaudi Lab PCR

Pipette

We got pipettes at around 40$ not including shipping which was expensive. It's probably a device that is not worth making but I realized that we need some for the STEM activities as we don't want to contaminate the ones we have. They seem to be using syringes or rubber for aspiration.
None of them looks to have a proper adjustment of the volume.

Here is some research in what exists out there links: Pipette Resources