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.

Maker Spaces

Maker spaces or hacker spaces(as some are called) are a great place to meet people and learn from them as well.

From spaces.makerspace.com/

"""
What’s a Makerspace?

To describe them simply, makerspaces are community centers with tools. Makerspaces combine manufacturing equipment, community, and education for the purposes of enabling community members to design, prototype and create manufactured works that wouldn’t be possible to create with the resources available to individuals working alone. These spaces can take the form of loosely-organized individuals sharing space and tools, for-profit companies, non-profit corporations, organizations affiliated with or hosted within schools, universities or libraries, and more. All are united in the purpose of providing access to equipment, community, and education, and all are unique in exactly how they are arranged to fit the purposes of the community they serve.

"""

They have tools from hand tools to drill presses to 3D printers to CNC machines to laser cutters. Some are even biological groups opening up spaces for people with that interest to do experiments with the maker spaces equipment and supplies.

Most maker spaces have a membership fee which can be costly, but I believe that many have open house days where you can visit the spaces and even get help with your projects.

I belong to the one in my city and have built different projects there for my lab. In one of my next posts I will be discussing some of the pieces that I have 3D printed at my maker space. I don't have a 3D printer but there is one at my maker space. There is so much different expertise there to help with electronics and programming, etc. I am glad I found this space.

If you don't have tools or space to work in, need help in learning how to use an arduino, etc. you should look into one today.

You can look for a space near you at:

http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces

or

google "hacker spaces", "maker spaces" your "city".

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.

Power Supply

Power Supply

I have been looking for a power supply for my electrophoresis other than batteries. I have been using an old train transformer, but it is very slow or 3 to 5 9 volt batteries, but is very costly. While searching the internet I found this:

www.science-projects.com/PowerSupply.htm

Now any time you play with a 120 volts you should be very careful. Here is a file for Basic Electrical Safety:

www.labtrain.noaa.gov/osha600/refer/menu12a.pdf

I will be building this power supply and trying it out. I will talk about this in a later post. If you build be very careful.