[DIYbio] Experiment with DNA and learn the techniques and concepts in a convenient and easy way

       I'm rather new to this list and I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a biochemist based in Chile and for about 3 years I've been risking it all in an ambitious business endeavour which seeks to develop inexpensive high quality lab equipment for labs that can't afford the absurd prices companies charge now a days. We've also focused in developing science education products for schools and universities. We've already developed an inexpensive gel documentation platform that broadcasts the pictures wirelessly to your computer and I'm currently working with Guido Nuñez and Joseph Jackson on the development of the portable and inexpensive PCR machine LavaAmp from which you may have heard in the past. They introduced me to this list a while ago and I've been paying close attention to the conversation and I'm personally thrilled by the great momentum this movement is gaining. 

      Among some of the recent topics that interested me was how many of you are interested in an informal yet practical way of learning some of the basic concepts of Molecular Biology, these being PCR, restriction enzime digest, ligation, transformation of E coli or other organisms, etc... For about 4 years I've been developing educational kits for this very purpose, help educators teach these to highschool and college students. Our kits usually contain enough material for 40 ppl to learn through experimentation, yet I've been toying around with the idea of making a simpler version for single individuals for a while and I think this may be the right audience for such a product. 

 

      Currently with our kits you can experiment the following

1. DNA extraction from fruits: This is a very straight forward experiment that was recently discussed, we've optomized reagents and protocols so that anyone can get a great result. The end result is a beautiful DNA tangle that is left suspended (insoluble) in a conical tube. 

2. Transformation of Bacterial cells with the Green Fluorescent Protein gene (GFP): The format that we've developed allows anyone to introduce a plasmid containing GFP gene and ampicilling resistance. Concepts to be applied include heat shock based transformation, selection of transformants with ampicillin, efficiency of transformation and arabinose mediated induction of recombinant protein expression. 

3. DNA fingerprinting using restriction enzymes: Find out "who committed a crime" by comparing the restriction digest profile of the DNA found at the crime scene with the one from 4 different suspects.

Future kits: 

-PCR

-Cloning (insertion of DNA into a plasmid, transformation and selection of transformants)

-Something you suggest

 I would really like to know if you are interested in these, every kit comes with all reagents and consumables required, protocols, a slide show and literature explaining all the concepts involved in the experiment and we also offer support through e-mail. We try to develop the experiments so that you don't need any lab equipment to perform, but the fingerprinting for example requires horizontal gel electrophoresis. 

We currently don't have any distributors outside of Chile, perhaps the Biocurious Reagent Store could serve this purpose for US based users or someone else.

Matías Gutiérrez

Bioquimica.cl 

matias.gutierrez@bioquimica.cl

Cell +569 8228 8405