3D Printing

Electrophoresis Chamber

Dremelfuge

Vessel Holders

3D Printing

3D printing is becoming more accessible to the average person. Maker spaces usually have one or two that would allow you to use. 3D printing is another good way to make lab equipment, here are a few items I have printed:

                   

In the top picture you will see a electrophoresis chamber made from a soap dish and 3D printed gel chamber and comb. I could have printed the whole chamber but I used a soap dish that I already had to save on plastic.

In the next picture I printed the dremelfuge which I have talked about in an earlier post. I printed both with chuck and with-out. So far I only used it with a drill. I still do not feel safe using it with a Dremel without enclosing it in some sort of housing to protect myself.

The last picture shows vessel holders for beakers, flasks and jars that I will attach to a shaker machine. I will talk about this in a later post.

You can find these items at :

http://www.thingiverse.com/

There are many other sites you can get 3D objects from.

DIYBIO and Genetics

Over the past weekend I did some web surfing and I found this site called "Learn Genetics":

1) http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/

It teaches the basics of genetics. It shows you how to virtually build a DNA molecule, talks about DNA to protein and all the basics needed to understand genetics. There virtual labs such as 1) DNA extractions, 2) PCR, 3) Gel Electrophoresis and 4) DNA Microarray.

2) There is a link to HOW TO EXTRACT DNA FROM ANYTHING LIVING:

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/extraction/howto/

3) A link on how to build a gel electrophoresis chamber, including power supply (one of the best I have found):

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/gel/build_gel_box.pdf

A lot of what is on there can be transferred to using plastic dishes instead of building the chamber completely form scratch. But still the lessons for working with plastics are good an can be beneficial if you go that route.

4) Another link that shows you how to run that chamber using kitchen supplies such as agar, table salt, food colouring and filter papers (I would use coffee filters):

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/gel/electrophoresis/

5) Teachers Lesson Plans:

http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/

I have not had much time to go through this content yet but I plan to.

Over all a very interesting site with a lot of do-it-yourself projects.

Gel Illumination Box

I have put together some parts I hope to use in the making of a gel illumination box. I will use this to illuminate my gels (stained and partially stained gels) and/or chromatography papers to give me a clearer picture of my separation bands. Many times they are very hard to see.

The box is a cookie/candy tin with the lid having a see-through portion (you can take any cookie tin or box and cut out part of the lid). I will place a light (I found an old broken plastic Christmas candle and removed the light, switch and cord from on top of it) in side the tin. The on/off switch and cord are kept on the outside of the box (they will pass through a hole on a side wall). The see-through portion is made of clear plastic. It is not very rigid but is sturdy. I can lay gels or papers on it to let light pass through and give me a clearer picture of my separation bands.

I also have some white plastic used for shading fluorescent lighting that I found in the trash. I will use this to diffuse the light and as a support for the gels and papers. It will make for easier clean up as well.

Later I will post the finished product.

Gel Electrophoresis

Top picture shows a gel electrophoresis chamber that came with the Discovery DNA Kit. The CSI DNA kit has one as well. The chamber uses 3 - 9 volt batteries. The gel is made using 9 ml of agar or agarose. It makes 3 wells for loading and runs from negative to positive. It is a nice little chamber and works well.

Here in the lower picture I bring together all the items I will need to put together a gel electrophoresis chamber of my own. This will allow me to add more wells and to place the wells in different spots on the gel.

I have a plastic bin for the chamber(this holds everything in place, the gel, sample, buffer and electrodes). I will use a plastic lozenges box for the gel chamber (you can use a soap dish or any other dish that will fit into the main chamber or box). You cut the ends off the lozenges box and use either masking tape or I will try and use Glad press and seal on the ends to form the gel. The styrofoam will be used to make a comb to form the wells in the gel. I will cut out a few different ones. The aluminum will be placed on the inside sides of the large box on opposite ends and will be used as electrodes. I will look for some stainless steal nails or screws to replace the aluminum.

To power the electrophoresis I will be using a old model train transformer that I found and repaired. It goes from 0 - 21 volts, not nearly enough voltage but it will do until I can come up with something better. Or I could use 3-5 9 volt batteries for the power supply.

You can see a couple of packages of agar-agar that I found at an Asian store. These will be used for the gel. I do have some powdered agarose (but not much about 1.5 gm) that I will compare with the agar-agar in my tests.

Here are some web sites that may help in constructing the gel electrophoresis:

http://www.scq.ubc.ca/the-macgyver-project-genomic-dna-extraction-and-gel-
electrophoresis-experiments-using-everyday-materials/

http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_$25_Gel_Box

http://makezine.com/07/fingerprinting/