Questions tagged [diy-biology]

DIY biology is a movement of hobby biologists practicing outside of mainstream labs. This means that budget, availability of technology, and possibly background knowledge may be minimal.

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31 views

Tardigrade scaling and survival

Tardigrades have attracted the attention of researchers with their amazing endurance. They withstand enormous temperatures, high doses of ionizing radiation, resistant to harsh atmospheric factors and ...
-1 votes
1 answer
72 views

Are there COVID-19 citizen science projects to compare habits and outcomes?

I've seen some "citizen science" projects for coronavirus that are not really collaborations, but simply requests for processing time. Are there any "real" projects where people who have gotten their ...
1 vote
1 answer
42 views

Reliable recipe to make DIY yeast slants

Does anyone have any good ideas on a reliable way to activate basic grocery store yeast? I realize this is a total beginner's question. I've built a small yeast ranch at home with my kid, and we're ...
1 vote
0 answers
22 views

Ion Chromatography System For Extracting Aminoacids from Microalgae

I am interested in extracting aminoacids from microalgae after having ruptured its membrane and carried out proteolysis. After some research, I came to the conclusion that ion exchange chromatography ...
2 votes
1 answer
992 views

Mold identification

I poured some agar plates and tried inoculating them with mushroom spores (I don't think they germinated bc of low humidity), but noticed what looks like mold with crystals on the surface of the agar. ...
2 votes
1 answer
30 views

How to supply oxygen to a culture vessel?

I'm reading this paper: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpsa/51/3/51_0130043/_pdf From day 17 of the culture period until hatching, pure oxygen was supplied at a flow rate of approximately 500 ...
-1 votes
2 answers
345 views

DIYbio - CRISPR injection sites for targeting the ABCC11 gene [closed]

I've been researching into the biohacking world where people most notable Josiah Zayner and Tristan Roberts have used a CRISPR solution developed in their backyard for gene therapy. There is even a ...
2 votes
1 answer
76 views

Why electroporator need a cuvette?

I have never obtain an Electroporator for my home-lab. Because it's very expensive, I'm trying to create a diy cheap version for myself. In all commercial design, I see that we need to put the sample ...
6 votes
2 answers
811 views

How to obtain a tardigrade?

The tardigrade is often mentioned as one of the most "alien" lifeforms on Earth. This video speaks for itself: (from this article) I have long wanted to see a tardigrade with my own eyes. I have a ...
0 votes
2 answers
111 views

Some question about materials for PCR

I'm planning to order oligo, polymerase, nucleotide, buffer for my first diy PCR experiment (now I have nothing), so I have some questions. How and how long I can storage them? I have only a fridge ...
15 votes
1 answer
17k views

How to obtain bacteria samples at home?

As the original question went from hold to closed, I thought I would write up a more appropriate question. How should one go about getting bacterial samples to look at under a microscope at home? ...
1 vote
1 answer
5k views

Beginner question about growing E. coli

I have bought a hobbyist kit which involves growing E. coli. The steps said to grow the E. coli on an LB agar Petri dish overnight. No incubation devices were included in the kit. I let the E. coli ...
6 votes
2 answers
656 views

Can PCR tubes be made of different materials than plastic?

Does it matter if I replace the PCR tube (usually made of plastic) with another material like aluminum, glass, or something similar?
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1 answer
310 views

Real Time PCR Test Chemistry

I am working on building a real time PCR machine. Is there any chemistry set that I can purchase online to: Identify if PCR amplification was successfully done. Test fluorescence dyes that could be ...
2 votes
3 answers
2k views

How can I create a microcapillary for manipulation of single cells?

i'm working as a diy bio. I'm finding a way to create a micro glass capillary for picking up single cells. I see this video on youtube and would like to know what is the minimum I/O diameter if I pull ...
-4 votes
1 answer
948 views

Can genetic engineering be performed without a laboratory setting? [closed]

I'm becoming more interested in genetic engineering as I learn more about it, and it's becoming more and more apparent that there's very few resources on genetic engineering at home. A similar ...
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

DIY extraction and long term storage of human DNA sample?

What is the recommended DIY way of extracting and long term storing of human DNA samples to store at home and send for sequencing in years time? Considerations: Sample material: cheek swab, hair, ...
4 votes
2 answers
167 views

Detecting food fraud

There's undoubtedly more than one way to do this, but if a DIY biologist were to attempt to detect food fraud (e.g. as done by students from Stanford University and Trinity School, Manhattan with ...
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Beginning with centrifuge experiment

This is the first time I do a centrifuge experiment with my own centrifuge machine, it's just simple made by a rotor that can rotate the tube at high speed. As I know a centrifuge machine can be using ...
1 vote
2 answers
282 views

Finding a easy and cheap method for dyeing dNTP

I want to measure OD to know the concentration of dNTP. Any idea for dyeing dNTP at cheapest price and easiest way ?
1 vote
1 answer
229 views

Preparation of normal DNA polymerase

i don't need Taq polymerase. Just need normal DNA polymerase. So the main idea is preparation polymerase directly from Lactobacillus without using cloned vector. My idea is electrophoresis using ...
0 votes
3 answers
196 views

Pump to separate protein/DNA instead of electrophoresis?

I know that DNA molecules or proteins can be separated in electrophoresis because the electrical charge is used to pull the DNA through the gel. So instead of using electrical, can I using physical ...
5 votes
3 answers
201 views

Finding a template/oligo combination for my first PCR experiment

I'm an information technology engineer. I love biology so I research biological topics and have an interest in PCR. That's why I have decided to create a PCR machine. Everything is done now and I ...
4 votes
1 answer
404 views

Effect of doubling volumes of PCR reagents

We ran PCR with a positive control and two lanes of sample. We used the same sample, but in one PCR mixture we used a total volume of 50μL (25μL Taq, 5μL forward&reverse primer each, 10&...