DIY with a goal !
Our mission is establishing a vibrant community of science biology users and equipment makers and contribute to greater community molecular bio education.
We believe that molecular biology research together with better public education creates an opportunity to make a better world and accelerate progress of science.
Read MoreNews and Events
2024
November
Publish final three pork identification protocols on protocols.io
Start Testing HTGAA Accessible protocols
October
For LAMP assay prepare and publish the detailed protocol for pork identification protocol on protocols.io
Meet with Glyxon Bio to discuss opportunities for joint projects
Perform the meat prep protocol
Rick took pictures and will create a video
Reclone meeting and participation
Continue to do course preparation and node handbook with HTGAA for 2025
Plan and test the next public workshop on DNA electrophoresis
September
DNA extraction workshop
Protocol. Included origami DNA and video https://mrpauller.weebly.com/blog/origami-dna
For LAMP assay prepare and publish the meat preparation protocol at protocols.io
Fab Lab Festival participation. Our booth was very busy and successful. We were filmed and interviewed. We will update the links once we obtain the material. Fab Fest
Reclone meeting
Hack613 meeting
Build a Cell seminars
Continue to do course preparation and node handbook with HTGAA for 2025
Includes create handbook for the nodes. Comment on the existing documents and participate in the many meetings
Test the tube rotator and iterate the design. All finished and working.
Document GitHub project and document some basic bacterial growth. Endurance test for 3 weeks passed. Full documentation at:
TubeRotator
August
Prepare and acquire regents for the LAMPY assay
Reclone meeting and participation
Design and build a tube rotator
Create GitHub project and start documenting.
June
Dry freezing in June
Discuss/assess simple dry freezing technique as per Jennifer's paper. Shall we attempt it? It requires a long list of reagents a fast freezing device and a strong vacuum pump to attempt sublimation.
Reclone meeting and participation
May
Document the inoculating Robot
We need to meet and document the robot as the details are still fresh.
Here is the full current documentation: https://github.com/AdrianMolecule/inoculatingRobot
We will use the lessons and elements from the openFlexure project adapted to our project. It could be used for reading plaque for the HTGAA collab project.
Start literature research and design of continuous directed evolution system to implement
One of our long term intentions could become possible due to robotics. Try to identify a system that can be implemented using our implementation of pyLabRobot server.
Collab on HTGAA collab group project
Planning and start design of experiments
Design GA primers session
GA is maybe the most useful tool in engineering today so understanding it is a great skill. Bring scissors to cut DNA. Seriously...
April
Initial test the Inoculating robot
We will design several patterns.
Reclone grant proposal meeting
Discuss the potential involvement
Design the primers for plant virus LAMP kit session
Reclone presentation. From Kits to DIY
March
Presentation and discuss HTGAA collab group project
We will participate in a phage therapy research project. While the general goal is stated we need to distill that in concrete details. Major risk is availability and affordability of reagents.
Prepare testing for inoculating robot
Select and culture the dishes and liquid culture for testing the Inoculating Robot
Work on the design of kit for LAMP
Decide on the plasmid and order it.
Cell Free Lab
Test the cell free from Kate Atamala/ Minesotta. Details pending.
Reclone meeting
February
Reclone meeting
Discuss new presentation for the next meeting
Cell-Free Protocol
Meet to design a cell-free Python protocol for Opentrons and Opentrons tube racks.
Here are the images and files: /diybio/resources/cellfree.py:
HTGAA MIT course starts.
This is a great course, unique in the world and requires no prior knowledge. We already have several members that applied. The link to the application form is on the homepage. Until then please consult the previous years activity at HTGAA.org. Highly recommended !
Python for Opentrons
Introduction the Opentrons Python libraries. Participants will develop a dilution protocol.
January
Reclone meeting with Cybele
Discuss new reclone initiative participation
Create protocols for LAMPPY
Meetings to brainstorm and determine what will be the first organisms to be tested and design of the testing. The challenge is to select an organism that is easy to obtain and falls under BSL1, like a common plant bacteria.
Experiment.com, Enzyme cooler project iteration due late January. We will finalize the 3D model in Fusion360 and upload it to the gitHub repo for the project. We might also publish a lab note.
Cell Free Systems
Design of an experiment for upcoming mid year workshop
2023
December
Participation as TA in HTGAA starting December - extends in 2024 for the duration of the course.
We will publish the subscription link once is made public so other members of our community can attend.
Renewed collaboration on the LAMPPY project (LAMP) with our industrial partner. Decided to work on protocols and testing of detection of several organisms starting early 2024. In search for positive controls that can be used in BSL1.
We will also try to spread the world and identify real location where the device/protocols could be used. Please participate in the brainstorming discussions. We are particularly interested in contacting small private hospitals in developing counties.
Great news! Our Experiment.com campaign was successful and we got 115% funded. Experiment enzyme cooler project is started!
We are starting to collect baseline information using a Raspberry PI and software
November
We created and finalized PipetteHolder project.
All the documentation is available at https://github.com/AdrianMolecule/pipetteholder. Don't get stuck on the first or last step!!!
Started collaboration with Glyxon labs on their approved and funded Experiment project. https://experiment.com/projects/how-carbon-sequestration-is-modulated-by-mycorrhizal-and-soil-bacteria-symbionts-in-abies-trees Glyxon project
We decided to discontinue our Meetup membership
While Meetup is good for publishing events it's been costing more than 2000$ since we started the group and we think that resource could be better invested. The 500+ meetup members will be asked to subscribe to a Facebook group to be created. That way we'll be able to remove some of the dormant meetup members
Coded the new software for codon domestication to make sequences MoClo compatible - code on Github
DNA Domesticator
September
Super folded GFP protein workshop. Open to members and general public at no cost.
We will be using fuGFP created last year by an Australian University and gracefully released in the public space. The dry run resulted in very intense light dubbed the mother of all GFPs by one of the participants
Red fluorescent protein workshop. Open to members and general public at no cost as the public library is supporting some of the associated costs. We will be using the opto-activated pDawn and pDusk plasmids to produce a read fluorescent protein.
Open Hardware Academy Participation More information
This is an open course offered by TU Delft in Netherlands to both internal and external partners. We will work on a microscopy project that expands on the success of the OpenFlexure project.
Open Source Microscopy
August
DNA extraction workshop. As a introduction, we will deliver a DNA extraction workshop for new members and external members
It took several test runs to achieve the desired result and the DNA product was clearly visible.
June
Great news! Our Experiment.com project and grant submission was approved. Experiment campaign will start in September
Please help advertise it and donate to make this a successful project. This is one of the most needed devices in a DIY bio lab
Work on an agreement to relocate the lab to a new location with the help of an industrial partner we helped designing a LAMP device. We might use this as a secondary location as we have duplicate devices like PCR machines, centrifuges etc.
May
Finalize and submit Experiment.com grant application
April
Submitted several new DNA constructs through Open Bioeconomy / FreeGenes channel
March
Bacterial culture workshop
February
Start working on Experiment.com grant submission
January
Bioinformatics workshop
2022
December
Flow Cell design and manufacture
Anatomy of a plasmid workshop
Pipetting workshop
November
Electrophoresis gel box workshop
October
JOGL Summit participation and presentation
September
Analyze and design possible solutions for low cost protein purification
Geneious presentation
August
Start Orbital shaker testing for liquid culture production
July
Started regular external meetings with phases of the protein production project
Bactograph workshop Bacterial Photography Courtesy of Rice University
June
Start design of the orbital shaker. See Open Source
Bioinformatics workshop
May
Protein purification workshop
April - Resume the in-person meetings
Re-stacked consumables and some perishables
March
Plan reopening options activity
Bacterial culture workshop
February
Resumed our regular meetings. Date and location will be communicated directly
Bacterial culture workshop
January
Used a combination of in-person and on-line meeting to work work on a number of projects. Two of them, the Wave Bioreactor and Proteopresso received micro-grants
We presented our Wave Bioreactor in a new JOGL presentation series "What if you can get large quantity of enzymes in a simple predictable way at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of time?"
2021
Started periodic meeting with JOGL. Slack platform setup. Preparing project grant submission
Due to the pandemic out weekly meetings Sundays at 2 PM at the Imagine Space at Ottawa Public Library Branch at Nepean, 101 Centrepointe. Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic the library space is closed
December
Our meetings are on-hold with the intention to plan to resume them on-line when possible
MoClo presentation workshop
November
Present our Wave Bioreactor and Glyxon Proteopresso project at the Biosummit 2021 organized by MIT Media Lab Our Presentation at the Biosummit
October
We presented our Wave Bioreactor project at the Biosummit 2020 organized by MIT Media Lab Our Wave Bioreactor Power Point Presentation at the Biosummit
Our Wave Bioreactor Project
Protein Purification Project as part of the larger Bioreactor Project in collaboration with Glyxonlabs-Here are some update and a video of the device taking shape
June
CRISPR workshop
This workshop will be offered as a hands on lab to members and as a demonstration lab to non-members
2020
Glow in the dark bacteria culture workshop
Weekly meetings on Sundays afternoons at the Imagine Space - Nepean
Anatomy of a plasmid presentation
Design, creation and testing of mini personal incubator for under 15$.
The goal was that members can take personal plates home so they can observe the evolution of cell growth without the need to travel to the lab. See Open Source projects
Strawberry DNA extraction public workshop at the Ottawa Library
Participate to Canadian Health Agency Biosummit held in Ottawa in 2020. Networked with Scott Pownall the organizer of Vancouver BC Canadian club and Kevin Chen the organizer of the Montreal club
Adrian - our organizer presented our activity and took part of several panel discussions. Canadian Health Agency Biosummit Agenda
Pipetting workshop
2019
Electrophoresis public workshop at the Ottawa Library
We use gel boxes designed and manufactured by Ottawa Bio Science
Transfer of the Biotown Meetup group to the Ottawa Bio Science Organizer that became the de-facto maintainer for the group
Design, creation and testing of an electrophoresis gel box.
The goal was that members can take personal plates home so they can observe the evolution of cell growth without the need to travel to the lab. See Open Source projects
Started informal meetings to transfer members of the now discontinued BioTown DIY group to a new group Ottawa Bio Science under a new organizer
Design, manufacture and testing of an automated incubator
See Open Source projects
Monthly meetings started, most of them as education session and planning including creation of a lab
2018
Start gathering and planning methods to obtain lab devices.
Start of basic Open Source projects like inoculating loops etc. Order first plastic-ware like Petri dishes, tubes etc
Order first e-coli organisms and grow media
Planning activity for the new club and transferring active members and co-organizer from the previous Biotown - community bio group.
Imagine you floating in a blue coral lagoon. Suddenly, you see this fluorescent creature.
During our first multi session workshop we moved (transformed) the gene that creates that magnificent florescence to a smaller bacterial organism producing a genetically modified organism. And here is our organism in ocean-like blue light.
Not bad eh?
Miscellaneous news
SUSTAINED PLANT GLOW ACHIEVED! WOW
Paper link here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2019/10/18/809376.full.pdf