I am interested in LAMP for detecting small amounts of DNA (loop-mediated isothermal amplification and yes, I know the initials don't match).
I am trying to figure out exactly how clean/(sterile?) everything needs to be.
On one hand:
-papers repeatedly stress that the assay is very sensitive and to avoid contamination
-these very nice guidelines (https://www.rtlamp.org/get-started/rt-lamp-open-access/) include the requirement for a PCR hood. I think this website is otherwise reasonable and thorough as it mentioned that HNB dye should be in its trisodium form (which most papers do not mention)
On the other hand:
-I'll be working with DNA, not RNA; less fragile
-the point of LAMP is supposed to be that it requires more basic equipment than PCR. If it still requires a clean bench, that sort of flies out of the window.
-a quick search for 'field LAMP amplification' found a publication (https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/ew/d2ew00433j - 'In-field LAMP assay for rapid detection of human faecal contamination in environmental water'). But I don't have enough experience in the field to tell whether this is a reasonable approach.