A team of University College London students are building a portable DIY biotechnology lab-in-a-box.

Philipp Boeing, a computer science student and an organiser for the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, presented the idea at the Maker Faire in Rome. "We want to make biotechnology accessible for everyone and decrease any interference that sits between society and biotechnology everywhere," Boeing told Wired.co.uk.


Boeing, who facilitated the Public BioBrick collaboration between UCLiGEM and London Biohackers, says he and his team are not quite sure what form their business model will take on -- it may be open source or alternatively "Apple-like" in design, depending on "which approach is the right one to make it a mainstream thing". For now, he and his team are working on finishing the product in time for the iGEM competition held at MIT this November.

The lab-in-a-box, named the Darwin Toolbox, is in its very early stages. In fact, it was just an empty box when Wired.co.uk saw it.

At his stall at the Maker Faire Boeing was demonstrating the types of equipment that will be included.

Once completed, the 13 x11-inch portable box will contain under its lid a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine, which multiplies DNA, generating up to millions of copies of a segment. It's useful for identifying genetic fingerprints and diseases. It works by putting DNA through a heating cycle, first up to 95C for around five minutes, at which point the hydrogen bonds holding the double helix together split: the DNA becomes two separate strands. They are then cooled to around 55C so that primers have a chance to bind to the DNA (primers are sequences of single-stranded DNA). The process is repeated over and over again, the strands multiplying each time.


It will also contain a centrifuge, which uses an electric motor to rotate DNA at high speeds to force it to separate, and a gel box where the DNA is separated using an agarose gel with an electrical charge. DNA moves through the gel when an electric charge is passed through it, away from the negative charge and towards the positive.

The rate at which different pieces of DNA move differs, thus it works as a separation tool. "It's perfect for when you're looking for a particular gene," says Boeing.

He sees the box as being useful for everyday activities -- for instance, testing organic food at home for its genetic components.


It will also be the first of several iterations. Getting all the equipment down to size will take some work, and with just a few weeks to go to the competition it's likely they'll want to refine the design aspects afterwards.

In the meantime, the Darwin Toolbox team is in contact with Hackney City Farm to begin arranging a few programmes using the box.

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