A 3D-printed hand-powered centrifuge for molecular biology

Byagathvalli, Gaurav; Pomerantz, Aaron; Sinha, Subarna; Standeven, Janet; Bhamla, M. Saad

doi:10.1101/519835

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…Therefore, scientists and hobbyists exploited a variety of existing rotary mechanisms in consumer devices and toys to build centrifuges. These highly creative designs involve either a hand powered rotary mechanism in hand crank torch lights [11], fidget spinners [22], [23], toys [24], [25], salad spinners [26], [27], egg beaters [28] or electric motor powered rotary mechanism in consumer electronic devices such as drones [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34] [35], [36], computer fans [37], hard disks [38], DVD drives [39] and Dremel tools [40]. Proliferation of low-cost digital fabrication methods such as 3D printers [22], [40], CNC machines [33] and laser cutters [11], [32], [38] helped to bring the best out of these designs by providing a safety enclosure and customisable rotor for various centrifuge tubes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilefuge: A low-cost, portable, open source, 3D-printed centrifuge that can be used for purification of saliva samples for SARS-CoV2 detection

Bhupathi¹,

Devarapu

2021

Preprint

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One of the best ways to contain the spread of COVID-19 is frequent testing of as many people as possible and timely isolation of uninfected personnel from infected personnel. However, the cost of massive testing is affordable in many countries. The existing technologies might not be scalable to offer affordable testing for millions of people. To address this issue, novel testing methods based on Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) were proposed that are more sensitive, require less reagents and can work with saliva samples instead of more tedious nasal swabs. As a result, LAMP based protocols can make it possible to drive the cost down to one dollar per test. These LAMP based methods require a centrifuge device, mostly for separation of viral particles from reaction inhibitors in saliva samples. However, centrifuge is neither accessible nor affordable in many resource limited settings, especially during this pandemic situation when normal supply chains are heavily disrupted. To overcome these challenges, we invented a low-cost centrifuge that can be useful for carrying out low-cost LAMP based detection of SARS-Cov2 virus in saliva. The 3D printed centrifuge (Mobilefuge) is portable, robust, stable, safe, easy to build and operate. The Mobilefuge doesn’t require soldering or programming skills and can be built without any specialised equipment, yet practical enough for high throughput use. More importantly, Mobilefuge can be powered from widely available USB ports, including mobile phones and associated power supplies. This allows the Mobilefuge to be used even in off-grid and resource limited settings. We believe that our invention will aid the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 by lowering the costs of testing equipment. Apart from the COVID-19 testing, the Mobilefuge can have applications in the field of biomedical research and diagnostics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilefuge: A low-cost, portable, open source, 3D-printed centrifuge that can be used for purification of saliva samples for SARS-CoV2 detection

Bhupathi¹,

Devarapu

2021

Preprint

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Genetic Biomonitoring and Biodiversity Assessment Using Portable Sequencing Technologies: Current Uses and Future Directions

Krehenwinkel

Pomerantz

Prost

2019

Genes

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We live in an era of unprecedented biodiversity loss, affecting the taxonomic composition of ecosystems worldwide. The immense task of quantifying human imprints on global ecosystems has been greatly simplified by developments in high-throughput DNA sequencing technology (HTS). Approaches like DNA metabarcoding enable the study of biological communities at unparalleled detail. However, current protocols for HTS-based biodiversity exploration have several drawbacks. They are usually based on short sequences, with limited taxonomic and phylogenetic information content. Access to expensive HTS technology is often restricted in developing countries. Ecosystems of particular conservation priority are often remote and hard to access, requiring extensive time from field collection to laboratory processing of specimens. The advent of inexpensive mobile laboratory and DNA sequencing technologies show great promise to facilitate monitoring projects in biodiversity hot-spots around the world. Recent attention has been given to portable DNA sequencing studies related to infectious organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, yet relatively few studies have focused on applying these tools to Eukaryotes, such as plants and animals. Here, we outline the current state of genetic biodiversity monitoring of higher Eukaryotes using Oxford Nanopore Technology’s MinION portable sequencing platform, as well as summarize areas of recent development.

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Takeaways from Mobile DNA Barcoding with BentoLab and MinION

Chang

et al. 2020

Genes

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Since the release of the MinION sequencer in 2014, it has been applied to great effect in the remotest and harshest of environments, and even in space. One of the most common applications of MinION is for nanopore-based DNA barcoding in situ for species identification and discovery, yet the existing sample capability is limited (n ≤ 10). Here, we assembled a portable sequencing setup comprising the BentoLab and MinION and developed a workflow capable of processing 32 samples simultaneously. We demonstrated this enhanced capability out at sea, where we collected samples and barcoded them onboard a dive vessel moored off Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, Singapore. In under 9 h, we generated 105 MinION barcodes, of which 19 belonged to fresh metazoans processed immediately after collection. Our setup is thus viable and would greatly fortify existing portable DNA barcoding capabilities. We also tested the performance of the newly released R10.3 nanopore flow cell for DNA barcoding, and showed that the barcodes generated were ~99.9% accurate when compared to Illumina references. A total of 80% of the R10.3 nanopore barcodes also had zero base ambiguities, compared to 50–60% for R9.4.1, suggesting an improved homopolymer resolution and making the use of R10.3 highly recommended.

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A 3D-printed hand-powered centrifuge for molecular biology

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Mobilefuge: A low-cost, portable, open source, 3D-printed centrifuge that can be used for purification of saliva samples for SARS-CoV2 detection

Mobilefuge: A low-cost, portable, open source, 3D-printed centrifuge that can be used for purification of saliva samples for SARS-CoV2 detection

Genetic Biomonitoring and Biodiversity Assessment Using Portable Sequencing Technologies: Current Uses and Future Directions

Takeaways from Mobile DNA Barcoding with BentoLab and MinION

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